


Siren Song

by anightingale



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Internal Conflict, Promises, Redemption, Self-Reflection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2017-01-11
Packaged: 2018-07-12 08:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 47,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7094065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anightingale/pseuds/anightingale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Earth-2 Laurel Lance, the Black Siren, is evil. Right? She is conflicted with this herself. Through self reflection and an important promise, she decides to take up the mantle of the Black Canary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Conflicted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shall I tell you the secret  
> and if I do, will you get me  
> out of this bird suit?

“It’s… _Laurel Lance._ ”

Those words had haunted the team ever since Barry had spoken them. Laurel Lance. The Black Canary. District Attorney of Star City. Murdered a month ago by an arrow. By that point, they had each met their other selves from Earth-2 and so doppelgängers were nothing new to them. Seeing someone who was dead on their Earth was an incredibly hard thing to come to terms with, however.

Barry and Cisco knew this the most. They had seen Ronnie over there and hadn’t been able to force themselves to tell Caitlin. She wasn't feeling like herself anyway, what with her having been captured by Zoom, but they knew they would never be able to tell her exactly what had happened. He had been evil. Like her. Like Cisco. Like _Laurel._

Cisco couldn’t stop looking at the photo he had convinced Laurel to take with him as payment for him constructing her Canary Cry collar. His favourite vigilante, seeking him out for his help. It had been a year and he was still having trouble believing that he had her phone number in his contacts. A phone number he never worked up the courage to call himself, instead relying on her to ask for more upgrades, and now it was too late for him to ever do it.

“Cisco,” a soft voice spoke from behind him. “You okay?”

Looking over his shoulder and seeing Barry entering the Cortex, he nodded quickly, and turned back. “Yeah, man.” A shuddering breath left him as he tucked the photo he was holding back into its envelope with shaking hands. “Peachy keen, jellybean.”

“I don’t think now is the time to be quoting Grease,” Barry said, a hint of amusement in his voice, as he came and sat down next to him. “What were you looking at?”

Looking down at the envelope holding the photo, he whispered, “I promised her I would never show it to anybody.”

“Promised who what?”

“It doesn’t even matter now, does it? She’s gone.” Putting the envelope a little forcefully into Barry’s lap, Cisco stood up and ran his hands over his eyes. “I only heard her speak briefly the other night and it was like a knife to the chest. Which is ridiculous, I barely knew her, but…”

Barry’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he looked down at the seemingly nondescript yellow envelope. With one look he could see that it had been opened time and time again, and so he very carefully took out the photo inside. Turning it over, Barry was surprised to see Cisco with Black Canary. Arms around one another, Cisco beaming, Laurel cool as ever. He could picture Cisco trying to convince her to take this photo with him, and smiled softly. He knew how much of a fanboy Cisco was for her, even before he knew who she was, so he knew this had to have been looked at often. Laurel’s death just added an extra amount of weight to it.

“I’m sorry, Cisco,” Barry looked up at him. “I know how much you liked her.”

“I barely knew her,” Cisco muttered.

“Even so,” Barry stood up, and handed the photo back to him. “It sucks.”

Cisco let out a long breath. “Yeah.”

Clapping a hand over his shoulder, Barry moved over to the whiteboard behind him and picked up a marker. “I miss her too, and I also barely knew her.”

A few quiet moments passed, Barry looking over the equations Wells had written to help him with his speed, while Cisco stared down at the photo.

“What are we going to do about Black Siren, Barry?”

Barry paused, his hand hovering above the board. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “We can’t tell anyone about her, that’s for sure.”

“Not Oliver? Or her family?” Cisco leant against the computer table. “Don’t you think they deserve to know?”

“Why?” Barry turned and looked at him. “It’ll just bring up fresh pain for them. I think it’s better that we deal with her than let them know that someone who looks like Laurel is here but that she’s actually completely evil and not at all how they remember her.”

“Why are they always evil?” Cisco sighed. “No, scratch that, why are you _not_ evil?”

“My doppelgänger?” Barry pursed his lips. “I don’t know. I’m like…me without my speed.”

“You’re definitely more wimpy than that, Bar,” Cisco smirked, thinking back to Earth-2 Barry. “You _were_ married to Iris though, who was like our Iris but…”

“A little louder?” Barry smiled. “Yeah. She was a little more, uh…”

“In control?”

“I don’t know, she’s always been like that with me. I just think her being a cop helped to bring it out to other people, too,” Barry smiled wider. “It was nice to see.”

Cisco smirked at his sudden change in demeanour. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah?”

“Ever since we got back from Earth-2 you’ve been acting strangely around her again. Did kissing Earth-2 Iris by any chance cause some feelings to resurface…?” Barry turned around to stare at him, a light blush appearing on his face, and Cisco raised an eyebrow, his suspicions confirmed. “I knew it.”

“You can’t tell anyone,” Barry said hurriedly. “Please. I’ve been trying to hide it.”

“ _Please_ , Barry, I don’t think anyone’s going to notice if you’re suddenly back to fluttering around her nervously again,” a wicked grin appeared on his face.

“Fluttering nerv— please tell me I don’t actually do that,” Barry closed his eyes, groaning.

“Hate to break it to you, but those feelings you thought you buried are back in full force, my friend,” Cisco laughed. “I think we’ve all noticed.”

“Great,” Barry muttered.

“Noticed what?” A familiar voice asked from behind them asked as she entered the Cortex.

“Iris!” Cisco beamed, his voice full with enthusiasm. “It’s so good to see you! And you come bearing gifts!”

Barry rolled his eyes, knowing that Cisco was doing this to annoy him. Putting the marker he was holding down, he turned and walked over to them both, trying not to let her know that they’d been talking about her.

“Yeah, Cisco,” Iris raised her eyebrows, looking at Barry to see if Cisco’s behaviour was strange. “I stopped off at Jitters and got coffee. I know you’ve both not been getting much sleep lately.”

“My hero,” Cisco said, and accepted a cup. “For real though, I needed a pick-me-up. Thanks.”

“Me too,” Barry said quietly, taking another cup out of the carton. “Thank you, Iris.”

“Of course,” Iris said, putting the carton and her bag down on the table. “Now would someone please explain _this_ to me?”

Holding her phone up, she showed them both a picture of Black Siren taken from what looked like surveillance footage.

“My editor found this last night. He doesn’t know who it is. But guess what? I do. That’s Laurel Lance,” Iris looked at both boys carefully. “Care to go over what I missed?”

Barry and Cisco looked at each other. “It’s her,” Barry confirmed. “But from Earth-2.”

Iris turned her phone back so she could look at it. “She does look a little different,” she admitted. “And it didn’t make sense given that Laurel is dead, but… she dropped that building with her voice. Not with the electronic collar that Cisco gave this Earth’s Laurel.”

“Yeah, she’s a meta-human over there,” Cisco murmured. “We aren’t really sure what to do about her.”

“There’s only one thing we can do,” Wells said, walking into the room. “You have to bring her in. She’s killed dozens of people already, Allen. Just because you knew her doppelgänger doesn’t give her a free pass.”

“I know that,” Barry said. “But last time I tried she had me on the ground with one scream.”

“We can work on a way to nullify her powers,” Wells said. “If Ramon would stop looking at the photo of her perhaps we would already have such a weapon.”

“Thanks, Harry, really appreciate your concern,” Cisco rolled his eyes, taking a sip of coffee and following him out the door to their lab.

“It’s not her?” Iris asked Barry once they left.

"What do you mean?" Barry looked at her, confused.

“Black Siren. She's _completely_ evil? She's not like Laurel at all?”

“Yeah,” Barry sighed, running a hand over his head. “Like I said, she tried to kill me last night, and she’s been killing dozens of people by dropping entire buildings all over the city. She’s not like the Laurel we knew at all, and she definitely needs to be stopped.”

* * *

Staring out the window of the upper level of the police station, Dinah looked at the pile of rubble across town that had once been a skyscraper.

 _I could be doing so much more than dropping buildings_ , she thought, slightly bitter. She knew it was good to be Zoom’s right hand, but using her power for such a mundane thing seemed like such a waste of her talent. Zoom had already killed Killer Frost and Reverb, however, and she knew she was just as expendable if he decided she was useless to his plan. It was probably better to just follow along with whatever he wanted, especially after his command to keep destroying things after she had let him know she had run into The Flash the other night.

A flash of blue light lit up the room with the telltale accompanying sizzling lightning. “Siren.” Zoom greeted in that snarling voice of his.

Turning around, Dinah watched as he put a chunk of metal on one of the tables in the lab.

“I’ve been destroying buildings for two days, Zoom. Are you _sure_ there isn’t anything else you want me to do?” Dinah crossed her arms over her chest, trying to gently encourage him to give her a more worthwhile task.

“No.” He looked at her briefly, and then looked back down at the metal. “I need more time to put everything in place.”

“Okay, but…”

“No _‘buts’,_ ” he flashed before her to make sure she was paying attention. “Let Killer Frost and Reverb be a reminder to you, Black Siren, that I _do not_ need anyone. Obey my orders. The Flash cannot know where I am until I am ready for him to.”

“He isn’t that powerful, Zoom. You could take him out right now without all this—whatever it is you’re planning to do,” Dinah murmured. He was leaning closer to her. She needed to stop talking, fast. _He needs to hear this, though… the sooner The Flash is dealt with, the sooner I can leave._

“The _point_ isn’t how powerful he is right now, Siren,” Zoom clicked his tongue at her. “He’s trying to be faster than me. I cannot have that.”

“ _One_ of my screams nearly killed him. One. If I could _help—_ “

“ _Stop questioning me,_ Siren.”

“If I had killed The Flash we could already be back on Earth-2!” It exploded out of her.

Silence. _Fuck,_ she thought. She took a deep breath.

“What were you going to do, Siren?” He finally said, quieter than normal. Deadlier. Her heart started beating faster. “I would kill you before you decided to let your cry leave your mouth.” He leant in close, crowding her, staring down at her out of the slits of his black mask. “I could tear your voice box from your throat without _blinking,_ Dinah. Need I remind you what happened the last time you tried to work around me? Except this time you won’t have your precious—“

 _Enough._ “Stop.” She swallowed. “I’ll obey.”

He stood up straight again. “Good.”

Moving back over to the metal he was intently focused on, Dinah allowed herself to let out a long breath. She could feel herself shaking slightly, and worked to conceal it from him. _I promised myself that I would never let him see me afraid again,_ she thought, trying to remind herself of this.

He had struck a nerve, though, because he was right. She _wouldn’t_ have her— _Stop. Don’t think about them,_ she scolded herself, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. She’d buried that part of her life a long time ago.

“I’m leaving,” Zoom announced, “go to the other side of town and destroy something big.”

Her hair whipped around her face as he raced off, and she stared vacantly at the place he had been. She’d been the obedient lieutenant for Zoom for nearly two years. How could _one_ near-mention of her old life be enough to dredge up this unwanted pain?

_We’ll hold him off! Go, Dinah!_

Blinking away the tears that had suddenly welled up in her eyes, she scowled at the empty entrance, and stalked out. _It doesn’t matter,_ she thought. _None of it matters. Follow the orders._

Walking down the steps, she blew out a cold breath of air. It was dark outside. Dark and quiet. This part of town had little to no people around anymore—Central City knew Zoom had chosen the station as his lair and people avoided it like the plague.

It also meant nobody was around to stop her from stealing a large black motorbike parked by the curb. It was nice. Shiny and well taken care of. It reminded her a lot of the one she used to have, she decided, as she straddled the seat and leant forward to hot-wire it. It didn’t take much work for the rumble of the engine to start up. Twisting the right handle, she spun the bike around and headed off to the other side of town.

It felt surprisingly good to be back on a bike, using her hands again, but with her current state of mind it was also bringing up some memories she was surprised she still had.

 _You saying that you’re a_ better _driver than me?!_

Dinah blinked. One _fucking_ mention of them from Zoom and it was like a door was slowly being opened in her mind. She didn’t need this. She just needed to bring down some more buildings and wait until she could go home.

She found herself wondering if this Earth’s Laurel had had him before she died. She couldn’t imagine her mirror image being without him, she supposed, because it was still _her_. It didn’t matter though, because Laurel Lance was dead. She wondered what had happened. She wondered why she didn’t go by Dinah. She wondered if her life was truly opposite to hers, because it could mean that _they_ were alive here.

On the opposite side of town, it was like nobody remembered that Zoom was out there. People were everywhere, going about their lives. Dinah felt very out of place in her black leather—it was too obvious that she wasn’t a civilian. She needed to be able to find something to bring down without people's questioning looks...

“Shh,” she heard someone say, as Dinah pulled into the curb and shut off the bike.

Looking up, she saw a little girl with black hair who was pointing at her while being shepherded away from Dinah by her mother. She wasn’t much older than Sin was before—

 _Oh God._ Sin. No. No. No...

The little girl's mother was looking at Dinah fearfully. She clearly recognised who she was, or at the very least knew that she wasn't a good person.

It didn’t use to be this way, though. People didn’t use to run from her. She may be a cold bitch now, but before she used to care. She liked being alive. She had a purpose. What was her purpose now? To follow orders? To kill people? Those who used to know her would be ashamed.

 _What are you going to do, Siren?_ Zoom’s words echoed in her head.

 _I could be doing so much more than dropping buildings,_ she thought again, feeling it with more conviction. _They wouldn’t want this for me._

_They wouldn’t want this for me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arrow screwed Black Canary over in the most ridiculous manner possible. I'm going to be furious about this forever, so I'm writing this to honour Laurel as well as to give Earth-2 Laurel more depth so I can turn her into the Black Canary. This will loosely follow 2x22 of The Flash (and onwards), except of course with a focus on Laurel. The quote in the first set of notes is from a poem called "Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood, which I find really fits her. I hope you enjoy this fic!


	2. Cloaked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't enjoy it here  
> squatting on this island  
> looking picturesque and mythical

Dinah didn’t really remember how to live without following orders. She’d been doing it for so long under Zoom, doing _anything_ to make sure that she would live another day. While doing so, she had come to relish the power of her supersonic cry and the devastation it could unleash, especially because she used to work so hard to keep it under control.

She knew that if Zoom didn’t hear people screaming as she destroyed something he would come after her. She had a limited window while he was busy to do…whatever it was she was planning to do. _What_ am _I doing,_ she thought, rolling her eyes. It was all _his_ fault, anyway. A few hours ago she would have come over here and levelled an entire shopping mall without thinking twice about it.

She only felt sympathy for that little girl, she decided, as she swung her leg off the bike and watched her disappear around the street corner. She was too small. She was someone who needed to be protected. _Someone like Sin,_ she thought, ignoring the pang in her chest. Dinah didn’t care about her mother—her mother was the one who was running. Why shouldn’t she let her feel that fear?

People didn’t run from her if they thought she was the Black Canary. She wondered if that was who that little girl had thought she was. She’d seen that look a few times while being on this Earth—hearing people's whispers, seeing the awe and hope on their faces as she approached.

 _I thought she was dead,_ they would say to each other. _The Black Canary, in Central City, here to help us stop Zoom._ It was only when the dust settled from the buildings they had occupied that those who still lived looked at her in horror.

No. She wasn’t the Black Canary. But she enjoyed watching people think she was so she could ruin that name. Dinah Laurel Lance, the _hero,_ destroying buildings and killing civilians. She hoped the media of this world was having a field day with all that was going on—The Flash had been just as confused as the lot of them when he first saw her.

However, she also wasn’t entirely sure she liked the idea of destroying an entire world—or whatever it was Zoom was planning to do. Those who used to know her would be horrified if she let that happen, and she wasn’t happy realising that. She still had a moral code, as diminished as it may be. She once believed in something bigger than this, before Zoom took it all from her. Obeying him, terrified in a lot of ways for her life, she had forgotten that. She knew that she didn't want to be Zoom's personal battering ram anymore, but she needed distance, she decided, to work out exactly what it was she planned to do.

 _I could leave,_ she thought. She could go somewhere else and have her existential crisis there, somewhere safe from Zoom. But nowhere was really safe from Zoom. He was the one who was responsible for all of her pain, for everyone’s pain. Laurel Lance may not be alive anymore, but her family might be, as could her team and her friends, if she had any…could she really turn a blind eye to the death of all the people she’d lost on her Earth here, too? Because that is what would happen once Zoom dealt with Central City. He would branch out, just like he did on Earth-2. He would force the whole Earth to submit if he wanted, and Dinah didn’t even know if Laurel had anybody, or if she was alone, like her.

Swallowing, Dinah looked around the street she’d parked on. There was a bar that was packed full of drunk people at the other end of the street who were loudly having a good time. Every other shop was closed. The distance between herself and that bar felt immeasurably wide. She didn’t know a single person on this Earth, she thought, as she listened to the sound of their laughter. If she were around someone familiar that could help, but she didn’t know anything about this Earth’s Laurel Lance, other than the fact that she had died.

Going to her grave to think could help her, but there were so many options for where that could be. Seattle? Star City? Gotham City? Coast City? She didn’t know where Laurel had been buried. She didn’t know where Laurel’s family would be, if she even had any family, or who she could ask to give her some details. The Flash knew her name, but The Flash was going to try and bring her in and she didn’t want that.

The most important thing Dinah knew was that Zoom could not find out that she intended to leave Central City. Working out what it was she intended to do if she wasn’t going to follow Zoom would mean she would need to hide in plain sight, so a change of clothes was in order.

Walking down the street in the opposite direction from the bar, Dinah peered in at each shop, looking for one that sold women’s clothing. It didn’t really matter to her what kind, but her black leather was too conspicuous and needed to go. _And this coming from the woman who used to wear fishnets,_ Dinah thought, pausing as she noticed a women’s store. Quickly glancing back down the street at the bar, she placed a hand on the glass of the shop window. Hearing nothing but loud music and laughter, she pressed up against the glass and squinted inside. It was very dark, but she could definitely see clothing options.

She punched the glass with a clenched fist, watching cracks spiderweb across it from the impact. Looking back at the bar to make sure nobody was watching, she opened her mouth and let out a single high pitched screech that shattered it entirely and stepped through. Walking amongst the clothing, quickly searching for something to wear, she selected a black hoodie and some black jeans, and quickly changed into them. She pulled the hoodie over her head so that it was covered entirely and walked back to her bike, before carefully placing her costume into the cavity under the seat.

As she was preparing to leave, feeling disguised enough, something on the street curb caught her eye. It was a newspaper, with Central City Picture News written across it in big letters. She leant down and picked it up. The story on the cover was irrelevant to her, but if she were leaving—and more importantly, hiding from Zoom—she would need to know where she could go. That place would have computers. _Perfect,_ she thought. She hoped the system was easy enough to get into, because she wasn't known for her hacking ability. She’d always had someone around who could do that for her, and she'd never really picked it up from Babs… _stop it. Seriously,_ she frowned. It was like her head wasn’t on the same page as her. She needed to stop getting these flashes of people she’d once known... It was too hard to deal with.

* * *

Dinah saw someone inside as she approached the large glass doors of Central City Picture News. She realised, thankful for this turn of events, that she could get out of town even faster with help than if she was forced to work out the computer system herself.

“Sorry, we aren’t actually open—I was just about to leave,” the woman said as Dinah opened the door.

Dinah paused, watching the woman ignore her as she furiously typed away on the computer in front of her, and shut the door forcefully to get her to look up. She did, and her eyes widened when she saw who stood before her.

“Laurel?” She said, getting up from her computer desk and quickly looking around at the empty office, seeming relieved when she saw that nobody else was there.

Dinah looked at her for a second as she walked closer, pulling her hood off her face, her eyebrows drawing together. She looked very familiar, but she was having trouble placing where she had seen her before… _Ah._ “Detective West? What are you doing here?”

The detective looked at her in confusion, but raised her hands to try and stop her advance. “Uh, no… Laurel, please, you don’t have to destroy this place.”

“You’re not her,” Dinah realised, and nodded in understanding as she stopped directly in front of her. “It seems we both know each other’s doppelgängers, Miss West.”

“Iris,” she interjected, drawing up to her full height, which was funny as she was several inches shorter than Dinah. She had to admire her bravery. “What do you want, Laurel?”

“If we’re going to be on a first name basis, then don’t call me Laurel,” Dinah said, smirking at her, amused. “My name is Dinah.”

“I heard you go by Black Siren,” Iris said.

“That I do,” Dinah agreed. “Just like your Laurel went by Black Canary. But we’re going to have a little talk, Iris, and I’d like you to know who I am in case I’m forced to kill you. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, and it won’t if you do what I ask.”

Iris blinked, evidently trying to hide her shock.

“Sit down,” Dinah gestured to Iris’s chair. “I only need some information, and then I’ll be on my way.”

Iris looked down, and then back up at Dinah, her eyes flashing, but decided against doing anything and sank into the chair. “What do you want to know?” She asked carefully, but utterly composedly.

“I need to know where the Dinah Laurel Lance of this Earth is buried,” Dinah said, putting her hands into her jacket pockets and moving away. “I need to know which city her grave is in. But above all else I need to know how she died.”

Iris looked surprised by this. “Why do you want to know that?”

“It’s perplexing to me that my mirror image is dead,” Dinah shrugged, pursing her lips and looking out the windows into the night. “I'd like to know how it happened. My other motivations are my own.”

Iris touched something next to her quickly while Dinah’s back was turned, and then pulled up a browser to begin looking up the relevant information. “It just seems strange, I mean I know meta-humans from Earth-2 have been looking for their other selves on this Earth, but yours is already dead. You don’t have to kill her.”

“That’s not what I was going to do,” Dinah murmured. “I need to leave town, and I’d like to know where it is I’m heading.”

“You’re leaving?” Iris’s voice rose, and Dinah turned back and looked down at her.

“Yes,” Dinah said. “Don’t let Zoom know, reporter. Don’t mention that you saw me to anyone. He can’t know I’m gone, and he’ll find out if you post about me.”

Iris frowned. “What about The Flash?”

“You know him?”

Iris looked up at her briefly before going back to typing. “Yeah, I know him.”

“Don’t tell him, either.”

“Why shouldn’t I? You’ve killed dozens of people already, Dinah, who’s to say you’re not just going to Star City to do that too?” Iris stopped and looked up at her boldly. “He would put you somewhere where you can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

 _Star City. Not Seattle or Gotham,_ Dinah thought. “Iris,” she said sweetly. “Please don’t tell him. I don’t want to kill you.”

“He wouldn’t let you,” Iris muttered, looking back at the screen.

“You’re awfully confident in him,” Dinah noticed.

“Yeah. I am.” Iris stopped searching and began reading. “Dinah Laurel Lance, born and raised in Starling City—er, Star City, they need to update this—and buried there too. The cemetery where she’s buried is in the city park. That’s about as specific as I can get, you’ll just have to look for her there if that's what you're intending to do. Her father chose that place so Laurel would be next to her sister, so look for Sara Lance's grave and you’ll find hers.”

“She had a sister?” Dinah frowned, putting an arm on Iris’s chair and leaning down to read over her shoulder. “Father, and a sister,” she murmured. “What happened to her sister?”

“She’s not dead anymore, actually, but she’s not around anymore either. Laurel brought her back to life, but I don’t know how. Her father works in the Star City Police Department,” Iris explained, and looked up at her. “You don’t have a sister?”

“No, I’ve never had a sister,” Dinah said quietly, looking at a photo displayed on the screen of the three of them and another woman, all smiling at the camera. “Who’s the other woman with them?”

“Laurel’s mother,” Iris guessed, shrugging.

Dinah looked closely at her. She didn’t really look look like her mother, but then neither did Laurel’s father. She could find and assess them for herself, though, if she wanted to.

Iris leant back in her chair as she looked up at Dinah. “You seem oddly concerned about the fact Laurel has a family.”

Dinah scoffed. “Don’t be absurd. I’m not _concerned,_ I’m…”

“Upset?”

“No,” Dinah retorted. “I’m just…surprised.”

“Surprised?” Iris raised an eyebrow, then furrowed them. “You don’t have any family at all, do you?”

Dinah looked down at the curious girl, and seeing nothing other than a strange near-gentleness, said, “I do not.”

Iris reached over and touched Dinah’s arm. “I’m sorry,” she said, sounding genuine.

Dinah looked at her hand for a moment, then back at her, and stood up quickly, dislodging it. She didn’t deserve, or want, any sympathy. “That’s all I need to know. Don’t tell anyone I was here, or I’ll come back to watch your ears bleed.”

“Didn’t you want to know how she died?” Iris asked, ignoring her threat while Dinah was nearly already out the door.

Stopping, Dinah turned back, crossing her arms to try and hide how uncomfortable she was with Iris’s show of compassion. “Go on.”

“She was murdered by an arrow,” Iris told her, frowning as she read. “She died in hospital. Awful, isn’t it? She didn’t deserve that.”

 _An arrow?_ “What colour was the arrow?” Dinah asked sharply.

Iris turned to look at her, puzzled. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Never mind,” Dinah muttered. “Thank you for your time, Iris West,” she called back over her shoulder as she left, while Iris stared after her.

* * *

Iris stood by the window that faced the street, looking at the place where Dinah’s motorbike had been parked before she’d left, tyres squealing loudly against the concrete as she raced off. She was in a hurry to get out of town, Iris had noticed. Whatever had scared her had _really_ scared her, enough that she had decided to leave.

She’d never known _Laurel_ Lance personally, but she’d sensed that Dinah Lance was very conflicted about something. Whatever it was, she hoped that something of the Laurel Lance of this Earth was in her to help guide her. She clearly needed some time to assess something, and while Iris was skeptical of whether she was going to Star City to do any good, the fact that Dinah had asked about her doppelgänger’s grave meant something to her. She seemed a little freaked out to hear that Laurel had had a family too, and it was making Iris wonder if the fact that she’d lost people was part of the reason why she was bad.

While she was pondering this, the crackling sound of lightning and the whip of wind that blew her hair around her face—and every sheet of paper close by into the air—alerted her to The Flash’s presence.

“Iris!” Barry exclaimed worriedly, looking around the office to see if anybody else was there. He looked really freaked out, Iris noticed, and seemed rather disappointed that she was alone. He was probably hoping to see Black Siren so he could take her in.

“I’m so sorry I was chasing meta-humans for the police and the team and I couldn’t get away because then they would get away but I could hear Cisco telling me you’d sent a 9/11 text to my phone and needed help and I was panicking and—are you okay? Are you hurt? Did she hurt you?” Barry came over, speaking very fast—almost too fast—reaching his slightly vibrating hands up close to her face while his eyes quickly looked over her for any noticeable injuries.

“Relax, Bar,” Iris smiled. “Slow down. I’m okay, I think her threats were…well, we know her bite is just as bad as her bark, but I think she really just needed information. She didn’t seem particularly violent, she was just trying to intimidate me.”

“Even so,” Barry said, still looking upset, but he visibly relaxed, dropping his hands. “I’m so sorry it took so long for me to get here.”

“It’s okay,” she smiled again, teasingly now, “I’m used to it.”

“But I _promised_ you I would never be late again,” Barry sighed.

Iris reached over and placed her hands in his, feeling the familiar spark of electricity as they touched. “I know, but I also know you can’t be everywhere at once, Bar. I handled it, and Black Siren is gone now, so it’s okay.”

Barry nodded, looking at her softly. “Where’d she go, anyway? What did she want?”

Iris paused for a moment, considering this, before deciding to lie. She didn’t know why she was doing it, but she really felt like it wouldn’t change anything if Barry went and simply put her in the Pipeline. Dinah had an opportunity to reflect on something that was clearly bothering her, and Iris wasn’t going to stop that, not if it led to something good—even with all the bad things she had done. The person she had seen in the surveillance footage—and the person Barry had described—had not stood before her an hour ago. “She wanted to know about Laurel and why she’d been killed,” she said. “She said that she was wondering how it was possible for her doppelgänger to be dead, but I don’t know where she went once I told her what had happened.”

“We’ll find her, Iris. There are only so many places for her to hide,” Barry said, and Iris nodded. She knew that Dinah needed to atone for her crimes, but until then, Iris hoped that whatever it was she was hoping to find in Star City would change something in the clearly conflicted woman.

She hoped, more than anything, that she didn't have too much faith in someone who she'd originally known to be a literal villain.  _Don’t make me regret this, Dinah._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your feedback so far! I have a lot of this fic already written as I kept getting ideas while I was writing the first chapter, so it was nice to see that people were responding to it with just the introduction. I also feel like I should let you know that I'm pulling a lot of Dinah's backstory/characterisation/etc. from the comics while trying to keep it in character with Black Siren. The differences between the comics (what I'm using for Dinah) and Arrow (Laurel) will be explained to help if you guys aren't as familiar with these differences, so don't worry. I hope you enjoy, we're off to Star City next!


	3. Clear-headed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> with these two feathery maniacs,  
> I don't enjoy singing  
> this trio, fatal and valuable.

_Star City._ The lit up sign made Dinah slow down slightly so she could stare, first at it and then at the bright city skyline that was steadily growing closer. It had been a long 600 miles from Central City, with little to no stops. As soon as Zoom realised she had _left_ —his single remaining lieutenant, not going down in battle—she _knew_ he would come after her, if only to teach her a lesson for disrespecting him. Fleeing had been the only thing on her mind…she didn’t want to be in the kind of pain she knew only Zoom could bring if he caught her.

Her entire body hurt, however, with the minimal breaks. Her fingers, especially—she’d been clenching them around the handles of her bike so tightly that simply working to unclench them was a mission. But she didn’t really want to stop yet. With the little information she had, she knew that at the very least Laurel Lance had family in Star City, and if her father worked in the police department she could somehow run into him… Not to mention, if there was any overlap at all with her Earth, there could be countless other people she could run into. She needed to mentally prepare for that, which was why the only thing on her mind was going to Laurel’s grave.

The only comfort Dinah had was knowing that when what had happened to her had happened, she had been in Central City at the time. Zoom didn’t know where she was originally from, and while she was sure he could work it out, it meant that he wouldn’t immediately go to Star City. There were many other options for where she could be, the closest from Central City and most logical from his perspective would likely be Keystone. She had time. Even _she_ had had to sort through the list of potential places Laurel could have been…Dinah had been raised in Gotham, but Hal had been in Coast City, and then of course she spent so much time in Seattle and Star City… Zoom didn’t know her as well as he thought he did, she thought smugly. He’d managed to ruin her life, but at least it happened in a place far from home.

Racing down the streets, the bike’s engine roaring, she made her way to where she imagined Laurel would be buried. Iris had said the city park, and she remembered a cemetery there, although it had been a long time since she had been there.

Luckily for her, the city park was in exactly the same place as her Star City’s city park, which meant she didn’t have to search for it. Riding through the streets felt very familiar, especially with the bike she was on. She liked it, for sure, but it was bringing back a lot of pain at the same time. She’d already thought about her old life more in the past day than she had in years. These little changes she was making to her routine were only going to increase that, and she wasn’t entirely sure she was ready for the onslaught of emotions she’d have to process if it continued.

She’d never dealt with their deaths.

 _I can’t think about this,_ Dinah thought, immediately bottling it up again. _One person at a time. Laurel._

She felt it might be disrespectful if she didn’t bring anything to her grave with her, so when she stopped at a close-by gas station to fill her bike up, she bought a single red rose. Real, from the florist section at the front of the store. It used to be her favourite flower when she cared for that sort of thing…she hoped Laurel would like it. But this wasn’t a date, and Laurel wouldn’t be there to approve of it.

With a surprisingly heavy heart, Dinah continued on to the cemetery, parking her bike and moving away from the bright street lights into the darker graveyard. There was nobody else around, she observed, apart from the few people at the petrol station. It couldn't be later than 8:00...She wondered if there was a supervillain terrorising the city and therefore people were in hiding, or if people were just generally warier in Star City. She could instantly tell that it was a definite change of pace from the fast and vibrant Central City, even with her limited exposure to it.

Walking amongst the burials in the newer part of the cemetery, it didn’t take her long to come across the grave belonging to Sara Lance. Looking to the right, she saw Laurel’s next to it, and her heart skipped a beat. It was rather confronting to finally be before her. She noticed immediately that the dirt covering Sara’s grave wasn’t as finely placed as the dirt covering Laurel’s, but she supposed that was to be expected. Iris’s words came back to her…Sara had been brought back to life by Laurel.

She was surprised by how much she wished she could do that for Laurel herself. She didn’t know where it came from, but she was struck by the desire to do something for the dead hero. _Especially since it seems nobody else cares to bring her back_ , Dinah thought, shaking her head as she moved over to stare down at Laurel’s grave. She had no idea how Sara Lance had been brought back—even if she had a few ideas as to how it had been done—but she was surprised that Sara at least hadn’t tried to return the favour for her sister. She didn't know Sara, of course, but given that Dinah didn't have a sister...maybe they simply weren't close? But that didn't seem likely, as Laurel had clearly loved her enough to bring her back.

Standing before Laurel's grave, Dinah felt an emotion she hadn’t felt for a long time. _Remorse._ She didn’t know the specifics about her Earth-1 counterpart’s death, but knowing she had been murdered by an arrow was more than enough for her to wonder how that could have happened. It didn’t make sense to her. Dinah was so powerful, she knew that her other self would be just as powerful as her, and if she could catch arrows with her bare hands how could Laurel be _killed_ by one?

 _Dinah Laurel Lance. 1985-2016._ The words written in black stared up at her. Seeing Laurel's full name—the same name as her own—the remorse washed over her even more powerfully. This was a woman who shared everything with her, except she was good to the core and yet had been murdered, while Dinah still lived. The injustice of it made her eyes blur, and shocked at her own response, Dinah quickly wiped away any tears before they spilt over.

Kneeling down, she gently placed the single red rose she’d been carrying on Laurel’s grave. “I’m sorry,” Dinah whispered, her voice burning with the guilt she couldn’t believe she felt so strongly. “You didn’t deserve to die. You…” she breathed, her heart pounding suddenly, “you don’t deserve what I’m doing to you. I shouldn’t be dragging your name through the dirt.”

She closed her eyes. There it was. The reason she had wanted to come and see her doppelgänger’s grave…she wanted to apologise. Zoom’s words had opened the door she had kept shut in her heart, and emotions she had buried for a very long time had come flooding back. She didn’t want to mindlessly kill anymore for him—she knew she could be doing so much more. At the time, she had thought that meant perhaps simply branching away from Zoom, but she hadn’t realised just how far she wanted to branch away. After all, Zoom was the one who had murdered everyone that meant something to her.

She knew above all else that those people would not have wanted her to turn out this way. Her own mirror image—the _good_ Dinah Laurel Lance—had been murdered, likely protecting her city, while Dinah had been taking every opportunity to make the citizens of Central City regret ever believing in the the Black Canary. Laurel had died a hero, and Dinah had been purposely ruining her name.

“I hope, wherever you are, that you can forgive me,” Dinah finally said, reaching up and tracing a hand over the stone where the words _Dinah Laurel Lance_ were written.

“I lost people on my world too, Laurel,” she murmured after a moment. “Their deaths fuelled my rage, fuelled my lust for revenge, for power.” A half-dozen smiling faces appeared in her mind. “I’ve kept them buried beneath these emotions for far too long. I _chose_ to follow Zoom, the man who murdered them, so I would simply have something to distract me from thinking about the fact that I had nobody left. I destroyed anything he told me to for years, becoming a murderer myself in the process…and I know that they wouldn’t want what I have become.”

The admission made her heart ache in her chest. Knowing that they wouldn’t have wanted her to turn out this way was one thing, but knowing that they would reject her if they still lived was another. She’d strayed too far. She wasn’t the Black Siren they had known, and she hadn’t been for a long time.

The laurel wreath covering the tombstone blew slightly in the soft breeze, and Dinah noticed more words underneath it. Gently moving it aside, she was surprised to see _The Black Canary_ written beneath it. It had been subtly hidden, but if anyone who had known Laurel came to her grave, they would likely find out her secret.

She’d heard the name spoken many times in Central City. People who had seen her face would naturally think she was their Black Canary, but it had still been annoying hearing about how loved she was here as she was so used to people running from her.

Dinah had been bad for a long time. It had become a part of her personality. She had stopped thinking about consequences and simply did whatever she liked, but she was starting to realise that her life before that wasn’t as buried as she’d believed it to be. With a sigh, she placed the laurel wreath back in its place and stood, stepping back to take Laurel’s grave in fully.

“Even when I was good, I was using the name Black Siren. I’ve never been a Canary. But the name Black Siren is tainted now. I’ve done too many bad things with it,” Dinah realised, looking up at the night sky. “People hear Black Siren and think only of the villain. Every good thing I did with Ollie…the others…it’s all gone from their minds.”

 _Ollie._ She couldn’t believe she said his name…the first time she had done so willingly in years. _Ollie. What would you want me to do?_

“I promise you, Laurel,” Dinah said, with as much conviction as she could muster, her chest aching with her forced recollection of _him_. “I won’t let your name be ruined anymore. I promise to honour it. If I am to change, then I need to use a name that people look up to. Black Siren can’t do that anymore. It hasn’t been able to do that for years. Black Canary, however, can. I know it can. People love you. You deserve to rest knowing that your legacy is being looked after. If I become the Black Canary, I can do that. Who better to do it than your mirror image?”

She smiled slightly down at the grave at that, feeling the promise like a weight in her heart. She knew it was the right thing to do, not just for Laurel, but for her as well. It was the best decision she had made since what felt like a lifetime ago. She needed a purpose in her life that she could be proud of, something that she used to have as the Black Siren, but which she could now have again. She hoped Laurel approved. She hoped Ollie and her family approved. She hoped they were watching her right then, cheering her on...she knew they would be happy if she really dedicated herself to this, but she would have liked some encouragement from a loved one. _I wish I_ had _a loved one,_ Dinah thought, her eyes falling to the grave again, wistful.

The crunching of leaves and twigs came from her right, the sound breaking the otherwise deathly silence and signalling someone approaching the graveyard. She had to leave. Pulling her black hood tightly over her face, she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jumper and began to move away as quickly yet as subtly as possible. She cast one searching look back at Laurel’s grave when she was nearly out of the cemetery, trying to burn the image of it into her brain. She could see a person walking through the graveyard and looked at her quickly before turning back to stare ahead of her.

No one could know she was here. She’d already caused great fear in Central City, but now she was in the Black Canary’s city. People would recognise her more. The promise she’d made to Laurel burned throughout her...maybe it was inevitable that people would see her, especially with this promise. _She_ was the Black Canary now.

* * *

A woman with long dark hair stepped into the graveyard, making her way slowly over to Laurel’s burial, a few fresh flowers clutched in one hand. She hadn’t been back to it since the funeral. She had been trained since she was a little girl to know and understand that death was merely a part of life, and thus as an unspoken warning to not get too attached, but it was still too hard. Laurel had been the best friend she had ever known.

Movement at the other end of the graveyard almost made her fall into a defensive stance, but she stopped herself when she could only see someone walking away. She watched them absentmindedly as she neared the grave. When they turned around to look back at her—or perhaps, whichever grave they had been visiting—she blinked, freezing in place.

They were wearing all black, and it was dark, and she was already thinking about her, and they were far enough away from her that she couldn’t be sure, but she could have _sworn…_

 _“Laurel?”_ She whispered, her eyebrows drawing together. Surely, it couldn’t be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your feedback! Dinah's in Star City and the run-ins will only continue.. it probably doesn't take a genius to work out who the woman is at the end, but I thought I was being subtle. This was the chapter I'd been thinking about the most since I got the idea for this fic, so it was good to finally be able to write it down.


	4. Confrontations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will tell the secret to you,  
> to you, only to you.  
> Come closer.

Dinah straddled her bike, leaning over to turn it on, trying to think of where she could go. She needed to make sure _someone_ knew that the Black Canary was back, but had no idea how to start. It had been too long since she’d thought about saving people.

 _What would I have done back then?_ Dinah thought, pulling out of the carpark. The docks would be a good place to start, she supposed. There used to be a lot of crime there on her Earth…she may as well scout it out at the very least.

The docks at Star City Port were just as dark as she remembered them being. They were also silent, which was not a good thing. It either meant nobody was there—which was unlikely—or that something was likely to pop out at any second like she was in a horror movie. Turning off her bike, realising the noise would probably draw thugs to her like a moth to a light, she furrowed her brow, looking around at the shipping containers and buildings. Nothing. 

Walking off in the direction of the buildings, away from the docks themselves, Dinah made a quick decision and decided to climb up onto the tops of the containers. Travelling across rooftops would give her a bird's eye view and would help her find people faster. 

Feeling her jeans stretch as she climbed onto one of the containers, she realised that what she was wearing was probably not the best crime-fighting outfit. It was too late to go back to her bike, however. She grimaced as she squatted quickly once she stood on top, trying to make the denim material more flexible. At least her boots were flat, so she wouldn't make as much sound darting across the roofs.

Jumping from one container to the roof of the building next to it, Dinah headed further inland. There was little by way of light, and the whole Port was like a mini city within itself. Dark streets and dark alleys met her every time she jumped, but she still couldn't _see_ anyone. There didn't appear to be any organised crime going on that night, she thought with a frown, stopping on the roof of one of the taller buildings and placing her hands on her hips.

She could see two street lamps along the street that it overlooked, each providing her eyes with some much needed light. As she stared out at the Port and further out at the city, she realised she could hear somebody speaking.

Tilting her head, she walked closer to the edge of the roof that overlooked the lit street. The voice was far enough away that she couldn't hear the exact words, but it sounded to her like the person just said _“you have failed this city.”_  

 _What does that mean? Who?_  Dinah thought, listening, trying to locate the source of the voice.  _Ah._ They were slightly down one of the alleys on the other side of the street, but Dinah could see them both relatively clearly. The man facing her wore a green hood that covered his face, with a drawn green bow pointed at the other man with raised arms. Even from this distance she could see him shaking like a leaf as the archer stared at him down his bow.

Crouching on the roof overlooking the green archer, Dinah stared down, squinting, trying to force her eyes to see beneath the hood. She couldn’t tell, the hood made his face too dark, but… He looked up, and Dinah froze. Why hadn't she realised sooner?

“Oliver?” She whispered, feeling her heart break all over again, trying to will him to look at her. _It can’t be, I… It might be Connor… Oh, God. Connor._

 _I can’t think about this,_  she thought as her eyes blurred with tears, and she took off. Leaping off the building, landing in a dive roll, she ran until her eyesight returned to normal, until she stopped shaking, until her heart stopped aching in her chest.  _Oliver. Connor. Mia. Roy. Oliver. Connor. Mia. Roy._ Her heart beat in time with their names. They were all gone.

He had been right there. It had to be him, she thought, shuddering as she came to a stop far from that street. In that moment, she welcomed the darkness of an alley with only moonlight to light it.

Dinah leant against the nearest wall, breathing heavily and staring at her feet. She hadn’t expected to have that kind of reaction when seeing Oliver, but it was _Oliver._ She hadn’t seen him in _years_ …and she had only had one brief glance under the hood before the tears came.

With the end of her tears came the wave of exhaustion, though. Her eyes felt heavy and she could feel her body sagging against the wall, her muscles feeling awfully weak. She knew that she couldn’t stay there—if Oliver decided to come that direction, he would see her, and she was not ready for that.

As she worked to get herself together, breathing deeply, the muffled sound of something landing on the hard ground nearby alerted her. She frowned and looked up and over to the source of the sound, her body tensing, but when she could not see anything relaxed. It was too light a sound to have been Oliver, and he had never been the stealthiest person anyway.

Pushing off from the wall, Dinah stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jumper and started walking slowly down the dark street. There was no point waiting around to be caught out. She could go and find a hotel to crash at overnight and work up the courage to find Oliver tomorrow. 

Stopping suddenly, looking back down the dark alley, Dinah scowled. She listened as another sound, rather like the click of heeled shoes, rang out. It sounded like the person was trying to stay quiet and altogether was too suspicious for her to simply write off.

 _I_ knew _it,_ Dinah thought with a sigh. She was trained to hear these kinds of things…she should have trusted her gut. When it told her something was off, something was off. It hadn’t failed her before, she just had to start getting back into her old headspace. Raising clenched fists and dropping into a defensive stance, she was ready to fight off whoever it was that thought it was a good night to mess with her, upset as she was. She could see somebody in the shadows, but they were not moving, and she grew impatient.

“Face me, coward,” Dinah threatened, squinting to try and make out the human shape.

A woman with dark hair and dark eyes stepped into the light, the moon shining brightly over her face and quickly allowing Dinah to realise that she had no idea who this person was. She had no emotional ties to her whatsoever, and so the only reason she hesitated in striking was because this woman was staring at her, looking visibly upset.

“Laurel?” She whispered, cautiously stepping forward, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. She seemed very defensive, like she was trying to protect herself, Dinah noticed—although she did not know why.

“No—do I know you?” Dinah asked, her fists unclenching slightly as her brow furrowed.

The woman walked closer to her, her body language telling Dinah that she had no intention to fight, while her eyes searched Dinah’s face.

“I thought it was a trick,” the woman murmured, sounding very sad. “Yet here you are—with amnesia, but _here._ ”

“I don’t have amnesia,” Dinah responded, feeling her posture relax entirely as she tried to work out if she knew this woman from her Earth.

“You just asked me who I am,” she said as she closed her eyes, a slight curve to her lips, clearly not born out of happiness. “I should be happy you are here and yet I find myself upset. Laurel…you without your memories of me—of _us—_ ”

Dinah was very confused, but she felt immense pity for the woman. She knew all too well the feeling of losing someone. 

“I do not understand, however…I destroyed the Lazarus Pit. How are you here?” The woman asked, and Dinah felt empathy further flood through her. “There is no other way you could be here. Maybe I am dreaming…maybe—”

"What is your name?" Dinah finally asked the question that she'd been wondering.

The woman's eyebrows pushed together, and she took a deep breath before answering. "I am Nyssa. Nyssa al Ghul."

 _Nyssa_ _al Ghul?_ Dinah found this very surprising. “I’m...sorry, I tend to associate the League of Assassins more with Gotham City than Star City,” Dinah said. “I know who you are now that I know your name, though.”

“You do?” Nyssa said, sounding hopeful, but her expression quickly fell again. “I’m not actually with the League anymore, Laurel. Not since you brought Sara back, really.”

“Sara Lance?” Dinah asked. “She was brought back by the League?”

Nyssa explained gently. “She was brought back by the Lazarus Pit, yes. But truth be told the League doesn't really exist anymore either, not since I disbanded it."

Dinah pursed her lips. She believed her, but this new information was completely unexpected.

"If I can find the man who restored Sara's soul, perhaps the same will help you, Laurel... I don't know him at all but I'm sure he would help. I would make him," Nyssa murmured, almost to herself.

It was at that moment that Dinah realised she hadn't explained to this woman that she wasn't actually Laurel Lance.

“I’m not Laurel,” Dinah interrupted Nyssa's murmurs. “I’m not _your_ Laurel. My name is Dinah. I’m actually from another Earth.”

Nyssa stared at her for a couple of seconds before she moved very fast and had Dinah pressed back up against the closest wall, a small dagger held against her throat.

“Black Siren,” Nyssa said, her eyes narrow slits. “Isn’t it? God, I _knew_ this was too good to be true.”

“Nyssa—“

“Don’t,” Nyssa hissed. “I let you hear things about my Laurel, let you see my pain, and you just _watched?_ You didn’t think to correct me immediately? Is this just a _game_ to you?”

“It’s _not,_ ” Dinah retorted, and then took a deep breath, trying not to lash out how she would have before. “It’s not a game. I forgot that you did not know because you’re the first person I’ve spoken to who was _upset_ when they saw me.”

“I don’t believe that,” Nyssa sneered. “Surely you must have destroyed enough buildings in Central City for people to be upset when they see you.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Dinah said, her own eyes narrowing. If Nyssa didn’t stop, a fight would break out, and she didn’t want that. Not really.

“Then please,” the dagger pressed tighter against her neck, “ _enlighten_ me.”

“Most people in Central City saw me as the Black Canary, yes, but when they weren’t being filled with fear they were filled with awe—the kind of awe you only have when seeing someone you idolise. The Flash knew who I was more than them, but even he did not react in a way to suggest he really knew me—knew Laurel. You, on the other hand…” Dinah trailed off.

She could feel the tension against her neck lessen slightly, and she swallowed quickly. “You are the first person who reacted to me with sadness. I knew you knew her, but I was too shocked at the reaction to really process that. I’m sorry.”

She stared into Nyssa’s eyes, watching as the other woman’s resolve faltered. Slowly, she withdrew the dagger and took her hands from Dinah, stepping back as she did so.

“I... Thank you for apologising, Siren,” Nyssa murmured, looking unsure of herself. “Laurel was… I would say she was my best friend."

"I truly am sorry," Dinah said again. "It completely slipped my mind. I did not mean to cause you more pain."

"It's not your fault she died," Nyssa sighed. "It's just strange to see someone who looks so like her in front of me. I'd heard about you, but I didn't really believe it until just now."

"You've  _heard_ about me?" Dinah's eyebrows rose. That wasn't good. 

Nyssa nodded. "Oh yes. The few contacts that I still have after the League disbanded have been tracking what has been happening in Central City for some time. I had heard through one of them that there was a woman there who looked like Black Canary but was going by Black Siren. Realising you were from Earth-2 didn’t require much brainpower."

"Of course," Dinah shook her head. "You must understand... I don't really want anyone from there to know I left."

"I can respect that," Nyssa nodded, quickly and efficiently putting her dagger back in her right boot. "I like flying under the radar too, Siren."

"Dinah," she said firmly. "Please don't call me Siren. Or Black Siren. Or any variation of that."

"Very well, Dinah," Nyssa seemed intrigued by this request. "If you wish to speak more, shall we leave this place and head off in the direction of town?"

"I suppose that's a good idea," Dinah shuddered, trying to play it off as if she were cold, but really it was because she knew Oliver was probably still somewhere close by. “What were you doing back there?” She asked to distract herself from this, gesturing to the darkness that Nyssa had stepped out of as they passed it.

“I was following you,” Nyssa paused, and shrugged. “I saw you at the graveyard for a _brief_ second, but it was still enough to pique my interest.”

“You saw my face,” Dinah mused.

“Yes,” Nyssa confirmed. “But only for a second. I haven’t really had much to do lately, though, and while I knew it could be painful it still would be a welcome distraction from going to Laurel’s grave.”

“I’m sorry,” Dinah said again. “I never knew her.”

“Well, you couldn’t have,” Nyssa sighed, and then changed the subject. “I noticed you got very defensive when I called you Black Siren, Dinah. Is there a reason for that?”

Dinah looked at her quickly as they walked, then looked back in front of her. “If I tell you, will you be mad?”

“Well, how could I know that?” Nyssa sounded vaguely amused.

“Fine. I decided to take up the mantle of the Black Canary,” she said, waiting for the backlash. Instead, she was met with silence. Chancing a look at the brunette, Dinah was surprised to see her looking impressed.

“Whatever caused this change within you, Dinah, it is a welcome thing. I am sure Laurel would have approved,” Nyssa said, touching Dinah’s arm gently.

“Why are you so quick to bless this decision?” Dinah wondered.

“A couple of reasons. Firstly because I was too quick to judge Laurel when she took up Sara’s mantle, and secondly because I have heard what you did in Central City. If you are turning your back on that…there is nothing for me to do but praise you,” Nyssa pursed her lips. “Not to mention, being an assassin I cannot really judge someone for doing what I do. Or did.”

Dinah did not really know what to say to that. They walked in silence for a bit, before she decided to ask, “You are searching for a purpose, too, I take it?”

“I suppose so. I disbanded the League, which was all I knew for my entire life, really. It feels… strange… to not have that to fall back on should I grow weary of the outside world,” Nyssa looked down. “Technically I would be their leader if I ever decided to bring it back.”

“Is that something you want? You could always be a vigilante out here,” Dinah said, gesturing to the city skyline. They had a great view of it as they left the docks, heading deeper into the city. Dinah wondered absentmindedly where Nyssa was taking her, because she was simply following her lead.

Nyssa smiled, looking at her out of the corner of her eye, thinking back to when Laurel said the same thing. “I don’t care much for Oliver Queen,” Nyssa said conspiratorially. “I’m not sure I could follow his lead. I’d have to do my own thing.”

Hearing his name be confirmed to her was like a punch to the gut. Dinah swallowed, trying to hide her reaction. _It’s really him,_ Dinah thought’s betrayed her, however. _He’s alive._ Her heart started to beat faster. “Or…” Dinah said, feeling choked, “you could stay with me?”

“I would like that, Dinah Lance. I always preferred Laurel to him. Plus,” Nyssa murmured as they crossed the street, lowering her voice as they passed a group of people, “you are going to need an ally once we do see him. He may not be as forgiving as I am of the fact that you have chosen to become the Black Canary.”

Dinah scoffed. “I’d like to see him try and stop me.”

Nyssa laughed at that. “It feels good to have you here, Dinah. You may not be the Laurel I knew, but you have more of her in you than you realise.”

A blossoming of warmth spread throughout Dinah, and she smiled to herself. She couldn’t believe this woman next to her had just been trying to kill her, but she was glad they hadn’t had to come to actual blows. Dinah would have won, she knew she would have… her Siren Song combined with her martial arts were too powerful to be stopped by a mere assassin, even one trained by the likes of Ra’s al Ghul. She found herself hoping that they would have an opportunity to spar with one another, for she would like to assess the brunette’s skills.

The life of the city started to buzz as they neared the inner city districts, with Dinah noticing more people around. It was good to know that even in a city she presumed was plagued by crime that citizens still went out to town. It reminded her of the brighter Central City, in a way, although that made far less sense—Zoom had to be far more powerful than whoever was lurking in Star City.

“Where are you taking me?” Dinah finally asked, as Nyssa glared at the cars that raced past them on the street they were about to cross.

“You say you are the Black Canary now,” Nyssa said thoughtfully. “We’re going to get the Black Canary’s armour.”

“Armour?!” Dinah asked, her brow furrowing.

“Well,” Nyssa laughed softly, covering her mouth as she did so, “what she wore. Her costume.”

“Oh.” Dinah said, following behind her as they crossed. The bright street lights and sounds of the people in the bars nearby made her realise just how within the city they were. She wondered where Laurel had stored her costume, because the direction Nyssa was taking her seemed to only show an increase in people. Not exactly what one would call discrete for a vigilante.

“In there,” Nyssa whispered to her, nodding her head across the street at what looked like an ordinary office. A _campaign_ office, if Dinah was looking at the signs outside correctly. _Oliver Queen for Mayor,_ they proclaimed, and Dinah felt her heart stutter in her chest. If he was in there… She had been hoping Laurel had her own place, but of course she had been with Ollie. She’d always had an extra costume at her Oliver’s place, too.

“We’re not going straight in?” Dinah asked, sitting down on the bench Nyssa had claimed.

“We don’t know who is in there, but if you want Team Arrow to see you you are more than welcome to head in,” Nyssa replied. “Let’s just wait a few minutes, Dinah. They don’t really like me all that much either.”

“You’re right,” Dinah sighed, then looked more carefully at the campaign office. “Well, the lights are on, so someone should come out eventually.”

“Mmm,” Nyssa mused. “If it’s just a single person we can probably head in. The entrance to the Arrow Cave is relatively hidden inside.”

Movement behind the windows had Dinah squinting harder to try and make out the person behind it. “It looks like just one…wait, no,” she shook her head, watching as another shape stepped out from behind the first one. “There are two.”

“I’m pretty sure most of them are out on patrol,” Nyssa said. “Whoever those two are are probably working on Oliver’s campaign.”

“Makes sense,” Dinah nodded. “Shall we?”

“May as well,” Nyssa exhaled. “I’ll go first. If it’s one of the Arrow members, I’ll say their name so you know to go and hide. I’ll meet up with you back in the park in an hour if that’s the case, okay?”

“Sure,” Dinah dipped her head, pulling her hood more tightly around her face. She didn’t want to appear like a robber, but if it were one of those people she would have a better chance of not being recognised immediately.

Crossing the street, listening intently for the people inside once directly outside the building, Nyssa indicated for Dinah to stand directly behind the door. Once Dinah was positioned, feeling funnily like they were about to raid the place, Nyssa entered. Dinah could hear her rather clearly, and by the smile she could hear in her voice knew that whoever it was was not someone she had to hide from.

As she opened the door, Dinah caught the end of Nyssa’s conversation. “…leaving in a bit, just printing some final things out for Mr Queen.”

Nyssa had placed herself facing the door, so the man and woman who she was talking to would not see her enter. Dinah realised right then and there that even if she did not need to hide from these people, they would likely still recognise her… hadn’t Laurel been the District Attorney? As well as being linked with Oliver… _Stupid,_ Dinah thought. She should have waited outside while Nyssa distracted them more.

Nyssa tried to subtly catch her eye without being caught out, the warning evident on her face, but it was too late. The two people turned around with easy smiles to greet her, and with no other choice, she walked over to stand by Nyssa.

“We’re just here to pick some things up for our friend, Oliver,” Nyssa explained, trying to keep the attention on her. “He gave us a key a while back to get to his desk. You don’t have to wait for us, we’ll lock up.”

“You sure?” The man asked, looking between them quickly, before looking back at Dinah. _Great._

“Of course,” Nyssa laughed effortlessly. “He forgot some of his files for the press conference tomorrow, and wants to go over them. We’re taking them to his apartment.”

“Okay, well like we said, we’ll only be a few more minutes, so if you really don’t want us to wait we’ll just go once we’re finished,” the woman said.

Nyssa nodded immediately. “That is absolutely fine. We’ll probably see you tomorrow,” she said, gently placing a hand on Dinah’s shoulders to move her away from them.

“You look very familiar,” the man said as Nyssa did so, and Dinah quickly turned back to look her in the eye. Too late, indeed.

“You may have seen me around the office, before,” Dinah replied, trying to keep her face turned to the side.

“No, you look like… Laurel Lance,” the woman realised, her eyebrows rising in surprise. “How is that possible? I thought you were pronounced dead a while ago?”

Dinah blew out a breath, her mind racing to try and work out how to explain her and Laurel’s similar features. “I was placed under… protective custody while I worked to uncover some information about…”

“Darhk,” Nyssa supplied helpfully. “She’s been in deep shadow conditions for the past few months. Luckily she found some information that could help Oliver in his campaign, and perhaps even with Darhk in general.”

The man and woman exchanged a glance, but seemed to buy it. “Well, it’s good to see you around here again, Laurel. It’s been pretty gloomy in here since your ‘death’.”

That seemed to seal the fact that her story was believable. “Yeah, well. Sorry about that. It had to be done.”

“It’s fine,” the man waved a hand. “Although Mr Queen will be happy to see you again, as will his sister. It’s been a long few months.”

Dinah nodded. “Well, we can’t keep you from your documents for too long. Oh and—please don’t tell anyone you saw me here. We’re going to have a… um…”

“Big public announcement,” Nyssa finished. “We’re working on it with her father. Better that it comes out as accurate immediately rather than as rumours circulating the city.”

“Absolutely,” the woman agreed. “We’ll see you later.”

Nyssa and Dinah smiled back as the two of them moved over to the printing section, and Nyssa wrapped a strong arm around Dinah’s waist, pulling her quickly around the corner from the main office.

“That could have gone _terribly,_ ” Nyssa hissed out, dropping her arm so she could run her fingers over the wood wall.

Dinah breathed out a shaky breath. “I didn’t even think. _God._ I need to realise the fact that everything will change very quickly once the fact that I am here goes public.”

“It’ll be alright,” Nyssa replied instantly.

Dinah wasn’t so sure. If Zoom caught wind of it… or if The Flash did…

“There,” Nyssa said, pressing a hidden button, and the doors before them opened. “Down to the Cave we go. Oh. Wait here a second.”

Before Dinah could ask what she meant, Nyssa had gone back around the corner to the office, and was asking, “Do you need anything from out back? We’re heading out there. If we’re still not in by the time you finish, you may as well lock the door, at least.”

 _Good cover,_ Dinah thought. Nyssa was better suited for the vigilante lifestyle than she perhaps realised. She found herself hoping that she could convince her to join her, as she had taken a quick liking to her.

“No, it’s okay,” Dinah heard the man reply. “Be careful out there.”

“Of course,” Nyssa muttered, already heading back towards her. Dinah stepped into the elevator at the same time Nyssa did, and pressed the single button on the panel. _Down._

The Arrow Cave. It was a longer descent than she thought it would be, but when the doors opened she was surprised to see a rather similar setup to what she had once had on her Earth, with her Oliver. Nyssa pressed down on Dinah’s shoulder sharply, and when she looked at her, Nyssa raised a finger to her lips. She wanted to check if they were alone.

Crouching, Nyssa and Dinah slipped out of the elevator into the shadows to the right. Listening for a moment, they each sighed in relief. Thankfully, there wasn’t anybody there. They wouldn’t be able to explain how they had broken in, but given Nyssa’s ease by which she had moved to this part of the Cave, Dinah almost believed that she had done this before.

Standing, Nyssa headed off to the large white displays on the right side of the room. Dinah looked at one of the many clocks displayed on the many computer screens on the raised platform as she followed after her, noticing that they read 11:59.

“Here it is,” Nyssa whispered, and Dinah looked back to come face to face with a black leather costume. The costume of the Black Canary.

Dinah stared up at it for a moment. It looked nothing like her Siren costume. “It covers a lot more than what I wore when I was good,” Dinah smiled as she realised this, too.

Nyssa crossed her arms, frowning. “You weren’t always bad?”

“No,” Dinah said as she shook her head. “You should have seen me back then. I wore fishnets.”

“Fishnets?” Nyssa raised an eyebrow, and Dinah looked over at her, the two of them quickly cracking a grin when they made eye contact.

“It sounds silly, I know,” Dinah chuckled, feeling rather lighthearted. “But it allowed for easy movement. This looks like it would hinder my ability to kick. I didn’t care what anybody else thought, anyway, because it was what I chose to wear.”

“Of course,” Nyssa nodded in understanding. “Laurel had only just really started on her journey to becoming a martial artist, so that was not really an issue for her. I should know, for I’d been teaching her.”

Dinah found this surprising. She also found it strange that the Black Canary was not a master martial artist, but shook her head to dispel these thoughts.

“My current costume didn’t really let me move, either,” Dinah sighed. “I really only used my Siren Song power… I didn’t have much need for any other abilities under Zoom’s leadership.”

“You have powers?” Nyssa frowned again. “Sorry. I shouldn’t probe.”

“It’s alright,” Dinah responded. “Yes, I do. Did Laurel not?”

“No,” Nyssa murmured. “What you are calling the Siren Song I suppose sounds rather like what she called the Canary Cry, though.”

 _Canary Cry._ “This was not a power? She couldn’t scream?”

“She could scream, but only when wearing a collar that allowed her to do so. It was manufactured in Central City by S.T.A.R. Labs, but that’s all I know,” Nyssa explained.

“Interesting,” Dinah mused. “Perhaps I should wear it, too. I’m not really going to be used to this costume, but I suppose I have to wear it.”

“When you don this costume,” Nyssa looked up at it, “you will be trading in your old life in a lot of ways. But just know that you don’t have to be Laurel’s carbon copy, Dinah. You are still your own person.”

“You’re sure?” Dinah exhaled. “Won’t it disrespect her memory?”

“Not at all,” Nyssa shook her head, her eyebrows drawing together. “When Laurel took up the mantle of the Black Canary, she changed a lot of things, the name being only the first of them. She took it from her sister Sara, the Canary. Her costume was very different. A costume doesn’t make the person, Dinah. You can honour your promise to Laurel without having to be _exactly_ like her, I promise you.”

Dinah couldn’t believe that there had been a Canary before Laurel, but she knew she had to stop being so surprised at things that were different from what she was used to. This was Laurel’s Earth, after all. “If you’re sure, Nyssa. I would like to remove a lot of the constricting leather, just so I can move easier in it.”

“I’m sure we can arrange that,” Nyssa smiled softly, watching as Laurel stepped over to it, reaching up to pull the costume down from the mannequin to try it on.

“Don’t. Move.” A voice ordered from behind them, and Nyssa quickly spun around, her dagger in hand, while Dinah simply followed the voice’s command.

“Nyssa,” the voice greeted coldly. “How did you get in here? How do you people _keep_ getting in here? Who is your accomplice from the League _this_ time?”

“I…” Nyssa began, her brow furrowing, trying to work out what to say.

“Why don’t we see for ourselves,” another voice growled as Dinah heard footsteps quickly behind her. She spun around before they could touch her, coming face to face with a red arrow.

“Wha— what?” The young woman with the red bow stared at her in horror. She could see a wave of expressions pass over her face, watched as her bow arm faltered, but Dinah had no idea who she was.

Looking past the red woman, Dinah swallowed. There were two more people in front of them, one man wearing all black leather and a ridiculous helmet, and the other was… _Oliver._ His bow also fully strung, an arrow pointed at her, he was visibly gaping at her when their eyes met. He looked just as surprised and upset as the other two people in the room, but because she knew who he was, the reaction meant all the more. Her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t seen him for so long…

“Laurel?” The three of them said at the same time, each in varying degrees of shock.

This was bound to happen eventually, she reasoned with herself, even as her heart cried out. Looking at Nyssa, the other woman stared at her levelly. There was no point trying to talk her way out of the truth, like she had done upstairs. She could tell from one word that these people knew her well, as they should. They deserved the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the major delay in an update! I was on exam leave and have been in a post-exam coma since, but I'm back, and hope you all enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Something for you guys to consider: I'd be curious to know if like...any of you guys actually want me to have Felicity be in this. I don't like her, but I'm trying to stay in touch with the show's canon (even though Arrow is majorly awful so there will be very obvious deviations). So, please let me know!


	5. Settling In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This song  
> is a cry for help: Help me!  
> Only you, only you can,  
> you are unique
> 
> Slight warning for this chapter: Dinah mentions some sexual abuse very briefly in her past, but it's very brief—there are no specific details at all.

“How… is this possible?” Oliver asked quietly, his eyes wide and unblinking as he stared at her, sounding like he was speaking more to the man standing next to him than to Dinah.

“I don’t know,” The man in the ridiculous black mask replied, his gun lowering slightly as he stared at her in confusion, his voice sounding strange even to her in his shock. “Is it really her?”

“Nyssa?” Oliver queried, his gaze flicking from Dinah’s to the raven-haired woman standing next to her. “Care to explain how… what…?”

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Nyssa said dismissively, raising an eyebrow, her arms crossed firmly over her chest. Dinah admired how utterly cool she was in this situation, as if it happened to her all the time. The sight of three raised weapons pointed at the two of them was doing nothing to affect her demeanour, although she remembered Nyssa telling her that she didn’t care for Oliver, so that could also be a likely reason for her behaviour towards him.

Dinah had been staring at each of the three new people before her in turn, but was finding it difficult to meet the gaze of Oliver and so focused instead on the two people she did not know. The woman in red’s mouth hadn’t closed since she’d laid eyes on Dinah, she had noticed in particular, her expression going back and forth between sadness and hopefulness.

“Laurel?” Oliver addressed her now, the sound of her doppelgänger’s name sounding not only strange in his voice but also strangled, like he had struggled to force it out. He was more affected by her presence than he was letting on, she realised. While the other two were openly gaping at her, especially the young woman directly in front of her, Oliver had seemed far more in control. Dinah remembered how he’d always tried to hide his emotions… clearly this Oliver was no different.

Dinah wondered how best to explain without him pinning her against a wall with the help of his friends. _I’m not Laurel! I’m from another Earth! I’m trying to reform!_ Such explanations would not go over well with him—Oliver had always been too quick to act without knowing all the details.

“Are you really Laurel? Was it… did you use the Lazarus Pit?” The woman standing in front her her frowned suddenly, looking over at Nyssa and then back at her sharply, her eyes searching her face for something. “Please tell me you didn’t, Nyssa…”

“It wasn’t the Lazarus Pit,” Nyssa assured her, and Dinah wondered why this woman did not approve of it. She clearly felt strongly that the Pit shouldn’t be used, her searching gaze telling Dinah that much, and almost felt the urge to tell her that she had actually bathed in its waters once before.

Instead, she opted to get straight to the truth. There was no point beating around the bush, but she braced herself for Oliver’s reaction. Something in her heart told her that he was not going to like what she had to say, and honestly, she couldn’t blame him.

“I am Laurel, but I’m not your Laurel,” Dinah began, and watched the frowns appear on their faces. “My name is Dinah Laurel Lance, but I’m from another Earth—what you would call Earth-2.”

“Earth-2,” Oliver scowled at her suddenly, and Dinah met his fierce gaze without flinching, expecting this. “Ba—The Flash told me about this. Zoom is from there.”

“Earth-2 Laurel,” The other man said, like it all suddenly made sense, and Oliver turned his head to look at him questioningly. “A.R.G.U.S. has been monitoring Central City for a while to see what The Flash would do before stepping in,” he explained. “Killer Frost, Deathstorm, Reverb and Black Siren were four names I heard mentioned alongside Zoom’s. Doesn’t Black Siren sound exactly like the type of name Earth-2 Black Canary would have?”

“Black Siren,” Oliver repeated, zeroing in on her former name just like the other man had. “I heard that name mentioned too. The Flash seemed determined for me to not come and help him with this sudden influx of villains, however.” He stared her down, his hands clenching tighter around his bow. “I wonder if this is why.”

“It makes sense that he would want to protect you—protect us—from her,” The other man gave her a dirty look. “I’ve been hearing about Black Siren for a few weeks now and it’s only been a month since Laurel di… since Laurel left us.” He cleared his throat.

The woman in red spoke up suddenly and when Dinah looked down at her, she was shocked to see tears welling up, her green eyes looking hurt beyond belief. “Why did you come here?” Her voice was quiet and steady, but Dinah could hear the anger beneath it. “What were you going to do with her costume?”

“S—“ Oliver warned, looking like he was going to move over and pull her away, but the woman turned and glared at him.

“I’m fine,” she muttered. “Answer me.”

Looking over at Nyssa, Dinah spoke again. “I would love to, but you all aren’t really letting me speak.”

“We’re all ears,” the red woman said patronisingly.

“I am the Black Siren, okay?” Dinah raised her hands to try and show she was no threat to them. “I’ve been serving under Zoom for _years._ ” She watched as they each drew their weapons up more firmly. “ _But,_ a few days ago I had a realisation as I stood in front of your Laurel’s grave. I made a promise that I would stop ruining the name of the Black Canary as I have been for the past few months. I _promised_ that I would take up the mantle of it myself.”

The woman in red, Oliver and the man in black all scowled at her. “Why should we believe that you have changed?” Oliver asked, stepping closer to her so his strung bow was more firmly aimed at her head. “Do you honestly expect me to believe that a known villain would suddenly give up everything that she believes in because she saw her doppelgänger’s grave?”

“It’s because of Zoom!” Dinah threw her hands up, her temper rising to match his. “He murdered every single person that I ever cared about and knew that when I had nothing I would have no choice but to follow him. In my numbness, I did. For _years,_ Oliver.” Oliver flinched slightly when she said his name, perhaps realising for the first time that she knew his doppelgänger. “Until I realised that I was blindly following the man who murdered everyone! I have nobody left.”

Nyssa stepped closer to Dinah now, her arms dropping as she approached the group. “She speaks the truth. Why would she lie?”

“Because she’s a _villain,_ ” Oliver growled. Dinah’s eyes flashed as the two stared each other down. “I can’t trust her. This is ridiculous. For all I know, this is a plot by Zoom to infiltrate us and then murder us.”

“Are you serious, Ollie?” Dinah’s mouth fell open, having forgotten how stubborn this man was. “ _Listen to me._ Zoom murdered people that I _loved!_ Yes, once I followed him I began to love the power that this granted me, but that doesn’t change the fact that he did that! When I realised this, I knew I had to get away. I’m telling you the truth.”

“Maybe he did kill everybody you knew,” The man in black spoke up, his gun also pointed at her. “But I also find it hard to believe that one look at Laurel Lance’s grave made you change your entire worldview.”

“My _worldview_ was changed the moment I realised the people I used to care about would not recognise or want me as I was,” Dinah retorted. “I became a murderer. I loved not caring at all about who I killed as my abilities were so great. I’d never felt so free. But I was alone. Zoom used me for his own ends, it was never my own goals I was following. I couldn’t recognise myself anymore.”

“And Laurel came to you in a dream and told you that it would all be alright?” The woman in red said condescendingly, her hand flexing over her bow. “No dice, lady.”

“I’m trying my best,” Dinah frowned, glaring at them. “I’ve half the mind to teach you all a lesson if you don’t back o—“

“Dinah,” Nyssa interrupted, her voice firm. “Explain to them what you told me about Black Canary.”

Dinah was very annoyed, but acquiesced, knowing this was getting them nowhere. “I let the people of Central City believe I was the Black Canary, allowing them to have that hope, until I killed them. I willingly let them think this, knowing I had a doppelgänger somewhere on this Earth who was good. I knew she had been killed, but I didn’t care. I was more hurt at the fact that she was so loved… then when I realised what I had been doing under Zoom’s orders and fled the city to her grave… Staring down at it, unable to comprehend that _my_ doppelgänger had been _murdered,_ I promised her that I would let her rest knowing her name wouldn’t be ruined anymore.”

As she spoke, Dinah could see some understanding in the woman in red and man in black’s eyes appearing. Oliver, however… he seemed to be becoming angrier by the minute. “I promised her I would become the Black Canary.”

Oliver scoffed at her as he dropped his bow and before Dinah could react he had her pushed up against the wall behind her, while the rest of them shouted at him in alarm. Dinah’s eyes narrowed, as did his, the two of them glaring at each other as Dinah struggled against his hold. She had never felt so much hatred towards him, and she had been in a lot of fights with him before. She _hated,_ more than anything, that even in her anger she could feel the sparks of electricity flowing between them. His hands on her biceps as he held her back forcefully while they stared each other down was making her heart race for reasons other than anger. She _hated_ that. He wasn’t her Oliver. He looked like him, but even her Oliver would have listened to her by now.

 _But my Oliver never lost me before…_ the thought rose in her mind, and she felt her face faintly turning pink. Her Oliver would have listened to her because he’d never gone through the pain she had gone through when she lost him. But this Oliver had.

“I _cannot_ believe this,” Oliver sneered at her, his face very close to hers. “Promise or not, I don’t believe that you are suddenly the Black Canary. There is no way you have changed.”

“Ollie,” the woman in red came over to them. “Enough.”

“She’s right, Oliver,” the man in black agreed. Dinah noticed that the two of them had also put their weapons away. “I don’t trust this woman, but I trust that she speaks the truth of this promise. Why would she lie about her entire family dying?” He looked at her briefly, and Dinah returned the gaze.

“Because Zoom ordered her to,” Oliver suggested, his eyes sweeping over Dinah’s body quickly. She didn’t know why—maybe to check for any hidden wires? He was being ridiculous. “Does he know you are here?”

“No!” Dinah snapped. “Why would I lie about my family being dead?! Zoom killed them _all._ He killed you, Oliver,” she shoved hard against him again, and he let go of her finally as he processed this. “You don’t know how powerful he is.”

“You’re right, I don’t, because I don’t associate myself with villains,” Oliver smirked smugly at her, his eyes hard and unwavering. He wasn’t going to change his mind, Dinah realised, almost sadly.

“Well I mean, that’s a lie,” the woman in red muttered under her breath and Oliver turned and glared at her.

“Yes, thank you,” Oliver rolled his eyes. Dinah found this highly amusing, but kept her mouth shut while she waited to see what Oliver would do.

Stepping back, he moved to retrieve his bow, and put the arrow he had dropped back in his quiver in one fluid motion. “I don’t know what you want me to do, Dig,” he turned to look at the other man. “I need some time to think about this.”

“That’s fine, man,” the man, ‘Dig’, said immediately. “Nobody is asking you to suddenly be okay with this. I think we should just see if she follows through on her promise to Laurel.”

“I can’t,” Oliver turned to stare at her again, and if she had blinked she would have missed the second of pain that crossed his features. He looked hurt beyond belief. “I _can’t._ She’s not Laurel.”

“I know I’m not,” Dinah said, her voice gentler than she wanted it to be. “But I meant my promise to her. I’m not leaving.”

Oliver let out a long sigh, looking down at his bow, his fingers twitching over it as he thought for a moment. “Do what you want, I suppose. Just know I’m not okay with it, and that you aren’t welcome here.” _Here,_ she guessed, meant the lair. Her heart hurt in her chest. He didn’t want her around him. Not even to see if she would keep her word.

“Oliver?” Dig asked, as he marched past him, placing his bow on its stand.

“I’m going to shower. I expect her to be out of here by the time I get back. I need time to think,” Oliver muttered, already taking off his costume as he disappeared around the corner. Dinah caught sight of a tattoo on his back as he left, one that looked rather like a dragon, and frowned, wondering what it meant.

Nyssa had been quiet for some time, watching the interaction. She seemed unsurprised by the result, but Dinah noticed she had moved to stand by her again, effectively showing the other two that she had her support.

“I would apologise for his behaviour, but that’s rather normal,” Dig spoke once the silence had settled over them all. “I also don’t think I really have to considering your past.”

“I understand,” Dinah spoke easily. “I don’t expect to be trusted by everybody. I know I have done awful things.”

“You’ve been under the watch of A.R.G.U.S. for some time, Siren,” he stared at her through narrowed eyes for a moment, and then sighed, tilting his head towards her. “However, if you are really going to try and change, I will not be in your way. I know Laurel would want her name to be looked after.” Stepping over to her, he held out a hand, and Dinah looked down at it, not sure what he wanted. “John Diggle,” he told her, and she realised he wanted her to shake it.

“Dinah Lance,” she replied, and watched as the red woman behind him drew back when she heard her name. “But call me Dinah.”

“Or Black Canary, evidently,” he gave her a small smile. “I want to trust you, Dinah. Please do not give me a reason to take you down, because I will take it.”

“Military?” Dinah raised an eyebrow. He sure seemed like it.

“Ex,” he confirmed, nodding. “I was Oliver’s bodyguard for a while too.”

“I’m sorry,” she shrugged. “I’ve never heard of you on my Earth.”

“Hmm,” he frowned. “Have you noticed that with anybody else?”

“With me,” Nyssa spoke up. “If I exist on her Earth, I do not know her.”

“Well,” John said, thinking over his words. “I hope I’m alright over there.”

It was a weird thing to consider, the fact that someone who was identical to you but opposite in many ways as well could be out there. Hearing about Laurel the first time had been difficult to ponder over, so she empathised with his slight confusion.

“I’m going to stay here and take Oliver home,” he said. “Hopefully he’ll have cooled down, but if not, I’ll be in touch with you, Nyssa. Let you know exactly what to do.”

“He won’t be okay with this for a while, Dig,” the red woman said, sighing, stepping to stand next to him. She was still unable to look Dinah in the eye, she noticed. “You know him.”

“Stubborn as always,” he rolled his eyes. “Okay. Well, you guys should leave before he gets back. I don’t want to deal with more anger tonight.”

“Good idea,” Nyssa smirked, looking at Dinah. “We’ll leave the costume, Dinah. There is no point in further antagonising him, even if it is tempting.”

Dinah turned and looked up at it, the black suit staring down at her ominously. “Yeah,” she agreed, running a hand through her hair before heading for the elevator with Nyssa.

“We’ll probably see you soon,” John said as they walked, looking down at the red woman next to him. “Why don’t you go with them? We should find out where they are staying, at least.”

“Fine,” she murmured, walking over and picking up a duffel bag while she put her bow away. Pulling her mask and hood off, she scrubbed quickly at her eyes to remove the black makeup and trailed after the other two women, not bothering to change. It was late enough outside that her costume could pass for normal clothing if nobody stared closely at it, and she was betting on that. She also didn’t want to deal with Oliver at that moment.

The three women stepped into the elevator, and Dinah looked down at the young woman. She had no idea who she was, and almost wanted to ask, but held her tongue. She would tell her if she wanted to.

“Where _are_ you staying, Nyssa?” She asked as they waited for the lift doors to open. “Is it nearby?”

“Uh…” Nyssa hesitated. “I actually haven’t been back to my safe house in Star City for some time. I was hoping you would have a suggestion.”

“You can’t stay in my apartment,” the girl sighed. “Oliver is staying there now, otherwise I guess I would let you.” Dinah stayed quiet, not knowing if she would have been allowed there too.

“Where then?” Nyssa wondered, Dinah looking over and watching as she seemed to be thinking over any available options. “A hotel? Probably not a good idea.”

The doors opened and they all walked out. The girl seemed to be having a silent battle in her head, until her shoulders slumped. She reached into her duffel bag and pulled out a key with slightly shaking hands. “I have this,” she finally said.

“A key?” Nyssa looked over at it, and then at her. “To what?”

“Laurel’s apartment,” Thea said quietly. “I haven’t been back there… not since…”

“It’s okay, Thea,” Nyssa assured her. “If you don’t want to go there, you don’t have to. Honestly, I’m not sure I want to go there either…”

“You don’t really have a choice,” the girl—Thea?—sighed. “Let’s just get it over with.”

Dinah’s brow furrowed. She was going to suggest that she could pay for a hotel room, but something about both of their demeanours suggested that while they didn’t want to do this, they also had to.

The walk to Laurel’s building didn’t take long, as Nyssa told her Laurel had also lived in town. Dinah fell behind Nyssa and Thea as they walked, watching warily to see if they would be alright. She wasn’t sure she could deal with any tears… she didn’t know either of them well enough for that. She didn't even know them well enough to know if they were the type of people  _to_ cry over something like this.

When they got to Laurel's apartment door, Thea took a deep breath. Inserting the key and opening the door in one push, it took her a moment to find the courage to step over the threshold. Nyssa and Dinah followed after, and Dinah looked around with interest while she watched out of the corner of her eye to see Thea's arms come up to wrap around herself. Nyssa seemed to be faring better, at least outwardly.

"It looks the same," Thea commented absently.

"Yes," Nyssa agreed, shutting the door behind them and walking into the living room. "I'll...take a look around. See if there's anything I can do to fix the place up before either of you see."

"Thank you, Nyssa," Thea took a long breath, and forced herself to walk over to one of the couches and sit down. 

Dinah swiped a finger along the mantle over the fireplace as she followed. A thin layer of dust covered it, but nothing too catastrophic. She brushed it off and sat down on the couch next to Thea, waiting for Nyssa to reappear.

"Nobody's been back here," Thea admitted. "Not even her father. We all just kind of... left it. All of my stuff is still in my room."

Dinah smoothed her fingers over the back of the couch, moving to look fully at Thea. "It's hard to face stuff like this. I would know."

"What did you do?" Thea asked, sounding miserable.

"I'm not the poster girl for things like this," Dinah shrugged, chewing on her lip. "I wish I could tell you what to do, but the truth is I never processed their deaths. I buried it then and there when I joined Zoom after he killed them. I would not recommend that, of course."

A weak chuckle escaped Thea's lips. "I'm Thea," she finally said, introducing herself. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I just wasn't really sure how to talk to you."

"It's alright," Dinah encouraged. "It's nice to meet you. Like I told John, please call me Dinah."

"You have the same name as Laurel?" Thea asked, looking up at her, leaning back against the couch. 

"Yes," Dinah nodded. "Laurel is my middle name, as is hers."

"Laurel didn't like the name Dinah," Thea smiled. "It was her mother's name."

"Mine too," Dinah smirked. "I find that funny that she didn't like it. I never even thought about it. Dinah is just my name."

"What about my doppelgänger?" Thea asked her, leaning her head against her hand. "What is she like?"

“ _Thea,_ ” Dinah murmured thoughtfully, squinting as she racked her brain for any memory of a person with that name and coming up blank. “I…don’t think I ever knew a Thea. I'm sorry.”

Thea’s shoulders slumped slightly. “That’s okay,” she sighed.

Dinah looked over at her and noticed how dejected she appeared. “What’s your full name?” She asked, trying to help her, even if she really had no clue who she was.

“Thea Queen,” she responded immediately, and Dinah could see the glimmer of hope flicker in her big eyes. She wanted Dinah to know her, she realised. Chalking it up to her missing Laurel, she found herself wondering how close they had been. She found that her behaviour in the lair towards her suddenly made sense.

“No middle name?” Dinah smiled, and she smiled back.

“Actually, I do have one—Dearden,” Thea said, and Dinah focused on her intently as soon as the word clicked in her head. “Kinda weird name, right? I don’t know what my parents were thinking.”

“ _Dearden?_ Thea Dearden…” Dinah gaped at her for a second. “I know who you are.” _Mia Dearden. Speedy…_ “What do you go by when you’re not Thea?”

“Speedy,” Thea frowned, looking at her warily. “Why?”

 _Oh…my god._ Compelled by the memory of watching Mia die before her and being unable to do anything, being unable to say goodbye, Dinah reached over before she could stop herself and pulled Thea close, enveloping her in a tight hug. “Oh, my god… _Mia…_ ”

“Uh…” Thea frowned, not wanting to move, shocked by the sudden friendliness. “What?”

Dinah squeezed the girl even more tightly for a moment before gently letting go. “I’m sorry, I just…” She swept her eyes over her. “On my Earth, I knew a young woman called Mia Dearden. She was Speedy too.”

“Oh,” Thea breathed, realisation dawning across her features, and then frowned. “How come didn’t you recognise me before, then?”

“I blocked all memories of them—of my family—out for years, Thea,” Dinah sighed, moving back to sit more comfortably on the couch, her eyes glazing over as the painful memories returned to her. “Mia… she died in front of me, screaming at me to run and save myself from Zoom. I’ll never forget it,” she swallowed, her eyebrows furrowing. “But you are right. I knew you looked familiar but I don’t think I could find it in myself to draw the connection…after all, you look so different in your costume compared to her.”

“I think it’s so weird how we just have doppelgängers running around out there,” Thea murmured, with Dinah not knowing what to say to that. They sat in an almost uncomfortable silence for a couple of minutes.

“I’ve gone through everything,” Nyssa announced, breaking the silence as she walked through the archway from the kitchen. “Some cobwebs, some expired drinks and food. It feels like it’s been abandoned. Nobody has been here since…?”

“Since she died, yes, I know,” Thea snapped, and then looked apologetic. “Sorry, Nyssa.”

“It’s alright, Thea,” Nyssa replied. “You know I miss her as well.”

Thea shuddered, and stood up abruptly. “Well, you guys are all settled in now. I suppose I should head home.”

Dinah frowned, looking between her and Nyssa. “Didn’t we use your key to get in?”

Thea looked at her, and Dinah watched as she tried to mask her emotions. This was very painful for her. “We did. I used to live here with Laurel. I kept the key because I didn’t know what to do with it but I haven’t been able to bring myself to come back here since then.”

Nyssa walked over when she sensed her pain and placed a hand on Thea’s cheek, seeking to calm her. Thea definitely seemed close to a breaking point. “You must believe Laurel watches over us. I know she is here. If anything to make sure her mirror self keeps up her promise.” Thea closed her eyes, letting the words wash over her. “Go and get some sleep, Thea. We will see you tomorrow.”

Thea sighed. “Yeah.”

“Oliver must be waiting for you,” Nyssa continued, trying to ease her out the door.

Thea nodded. “He’s been a little overprotective lately, even for him.” She looked over at Dinah. “It was nice to get to talk to you, Dinah.”

“And you,” Dinah replied, Mia’s face splattered with blood flashing before her eyes. “I’ll see you soon.”

Thea seemed happy with that, a small smile appearing on her face. She had clearly been very close with Laurel, Dinah thought again sadly. Taking a quick look around Laurel’s apartment, her brow furrowing sadly, Thea headed out the door, closing it softly behind her.

As soon as she left, Nyssa walked over to the closest window that looked out over the street.

“What are you doing?” Dinah asked, puzzled, standing to move over to her and look out as well.

“Waiting to see if she goes back home or somewhere else,” Nyssa murmured. “I was never close with her, or with Oliver, but we all loved Laurel. I promised him a while ago I would watch to make sure she was doing alright.”

“Is she?”

“No,” Nyssa said, a bitter smile appearing on her face. “None of us are. Your appearance doesn’t really help with that, either.”

“I’m sorry,” Dinah muttered.

“I know,” Nyssa sighed. They both watched as Thea appeared on the street, stepping onto the road and hailing down a taxi. “Oliver will call me if she doesn’t return, but the fact she got into a taxi is a promising sign.”

“Where else would she go?” Dinah asked, watching the taxi drive away and then standing up straight, rolling her neck.

“Thea bathed in a Lazarus Pit relatively recently,” Nyssa replied, moving over and sinking into a couch. “The Pit, it—“

“I know what it does,” Dinah interrupted, following her lead. “I’ve bathed in one before as well.”

“You have?” Nyssa frowned, her dark eyes squinting at her. “What for?”

In response, Dinah pulled her jacket off and lifted up her hair, moving it to one side. Nyssa leant forward, staring at the white scar on one side of Dinah’s neck.

“You were killed?” Nyssa asked. “Stabbed here?”

“No,” Dinah murmured, not sounding happy at all. “Nearly, though.” She let her hair fall back into place. “In my earlier days of being the Black Siren, I was abducted by a drug dealer who I was investigating.” Dinah rolled her eyes, trying to seem unaffected. “I was tortured and abused both physically and sexually to the point where I lost the ability to use my Siren Song. If Oliver hadn’t gotten there in time, it could have been much worse.”

Nyssa sighed, sadness washing over her for a moment. “I’m terribly sorry, Dinah.”

“Oliver murdered him, and anyone who was complicit in it,” Dinah responded. “He’s dead now.”

“Even so. ‘No woman should ever have to suffer at the hands of men’,” she quoted gently. “I am glad they got what they deserved.”

“I agree,” Dinah replied. “Who said that?”

“Sara Lance,” Nyssa said, and Dinah raised an eyebrow in surprise. “It drives her more than nearly anything else in this life.”

Dinah mused over this, wondering what it would be like to meet this sister of Laurel’s.

“So, you bathed in the Lazarus Pit to restore your—Siren Song,” Nyssa thought about this for a moment. “What exactly is that?”

“My Siren Song? It’s the reason I’m a metahuman,” Dinah leant her head on her hand as it rested on the sofa arm. “It’s a sonic scream power that I have.”

“Oh,” Nyssa murmured. “Laurel wasn’t a metahuman, but she had some technology that allowed her to do something that sounds similar—but she called it the Canary Cry. Perhaps you should consider calling yours that too if you’re the Black Canary?”

Dinah pursed her lips. “I suppose you’re right,” she nodded. “It’ll take some getting used to, though.”

“And the rest of it won’t?”

“Yeah,” Dinah let out a long breath.

“Listen, Dinah,” Nyssa sank back further into the couch, pulling her feet up onto it. “I may not agree with the Pit or using it but aside from the fact you were a villain for a long time you appear perfectly normal. You are still sane?”

“I’d like to think so.”

“I’m being serious. Thea wasn’t herself for a long time and she’s still not really better. Do you have fits of rage too?” Nyssa was in a relaxed position but her words were sharp. “I need to know if I have to watch out for you now too.”

“You don’t,” Dinah assured her. “I’m okay.”

“Good,” Nyssa closed her eyes, looking very tired. “You should get some sleep too. We can call Thea and find out what Oliver wishes to do about you tomorrow.”

Dinah looked over her shoulder behind her, knowing that Laurel’s bedroom was somewhere back there. She suddenly wanted to lie here on the couch with Nyssa. “So, Thea has been out of it since the Pit?” She asked, as she reluctantly stood up.

“Yes,” Nyssa nodded slightly. “She’s been working on it. She’s much better now but it never fully goes away unless she kills someone, which Oliver wants to avoid.”

Dinah sighed. “I can imagine.” _Can I?_ “I’m going to go and shower. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

* * *

Dinah lay awake for a long time. At first, using Laurel’s apartment as a base had seemed like a good idea. But now, lying in her bed, the whole room smelling musty, her things scattered everywhere, her handwriting on every piece of paper, it felt much too intrusive. Dinah didn’t know Laurel. She may have promised to be the Black Canary, but Nyssa and Thea knew her more than she ever would. Of course, she did have a unique understanding of her, as they both knew most of the same people from each of their worlds, but this was a lot to handle.

The sheets didn’t feel clean. She had noticed this almost immediately and she felt suffocated as soon as she realised. She knew they couldn’t have been washed since before Laurel died, with the dirty laundry in the hamper in the corner of the room also reminding her of this. Something as simple as that hit Dinah hard. _Laurel wasn’t here._ Her apartment stood still in her absence and it made Dinah feel very uncomfortable. It was much too personal.

Rolling over, Dinah looked at the digital clock on the nightstand. _5:40am,_ the numbers read, taunting her. Sighing, Dinah realised she would have to ask if Nyssa would mind taking Laurel’s room following this sleepless night. If she wouldn’t, she would have to change some things in here so it didn’t feel so stifling.

Drumming her fingers on the duvet cover, she decided to turn on the TV, realising that she could watch the news and get acquainted with this city if sleep wouldn’t take her. She was used to the odd sleepless night in her line of work anyway, but she would have liked to have had the chance to relax and reflect on the monumental day she had had.

She sat up halfway, leaning against her pillows and the headboard and watched as the channel replayed stories from the previous night. Most of it was trivial, although there were several mentions of something to do with the dark. She would have to ask someone what _dark_ meant, because the news anchors glossed over it very quickly, seeming somewhat afraid to linger on it—whatever it was. Then something on screen made her sit up completely, turning up the volume as loud as she dared with Nyssa asleep in the other room.

_“…reports tonight of flurries of snow and ice appearing in midtown Star City, we are unsure as to what this means as it is not snow season…”_

Dinah tilted her head to one side, her heart beating slightly faster as she stared at the images on the screen. The snowstorm was centred in one area by Star City Central Park and definitely did not look natural.

_“…could be a metahuman, but until the Green Arrow or the police can confirm this we advise people to stay out of the area. There are reports of a woman screaming…”_

_Oh, it’s a metahuman alright,_ Dinah thought as she watched, swallowing hard. The way the snow was floating around was not like Captain Cold’s or even Mr Freeze’s gun. There was only one person she knew who could conjure this sort of power. Killer Frost.

Killer Frost meant Zoom. Dinah had been under the belief that she had died along with Reverb, but here was the proof that she was still around. If she was here, it meant Zoom likely knew where she was. He would have sent Killer Frost here specifically to find her and likely drag her back to Central City if she had to. The obvious snow and ice was a clear message. She wanted Dinah to see, because why else would she be doing it? Dinah could feel the goosebumps rising along her arms. As powerful as she was, if she wasn’t fast enough Killer Frost would bind her in ice, rendering her unable to move or use her Siren Song against her. All the martial arts skills she had would be useless if that happened.

 _I have to reason with her,_ Dinah thought, already climbing out of bed and looking for her shoes. _I can’t go back there… I can’t go back to him…_

Slightly delirious from a lack of sleep, she didn’t notice until she’d turned off the TV and left Laurel’s room that she’d pulled on a pair of Laurel’s shoes by mistake. They were well-worn and fit her perfectly, of course, but it still shocked her awake. She looked over at the front door and realised she had taken her shoes off there the night before.

Getting past the sleeping assassin was easier than she would have thought it to be, as Nyssa had seemingly moved to Laurel’s spare room after Dinah had gone to bed. She thought briefly about leaving a message, but didn’t feel comfortable writing on Laurel’s stationery. She would hopefully be back soon, anyway—Nyssa surely wouldn’t be up at this time.

Slipping out the door, Dinah hurried out of the building. It was deathly silent. The stillness of life at this hour always made her wonder if she were the only one around. Unfortunately for her, she had left her bike at the docks the day before, which meant she would have to walk to the park.

Half an hour later, Dinah could feel the temperature dropping as she approached the park. She had no idea where Killer Frost was, but hoped that she hadn’t left. The icicles over the iron arch into the park definitely showed that she had been there, at least.

She jumped when her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket. Frowning, she got it out and stared at the caller ID. _How…?_ She thought, but pressed the green button.

“Where are you?” A tired sounding Nyssa asked by way of greeting.

“How did you get this number?” Dinah replied instead, continuing her way through the park, her eyes flitting everywhere for any sign of more snow and ice.

“I put it in while you showered last night,” Nyssa said cooly. “In case you needed a way to contact me. However, now I’m glad I did so I can contact _you._ I didn’t expect you to pull a disappearing act on me.”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Dinah admitted. “I put on the news instead and now I’m out for a walk.”

There was complete silence on the other end as Nyssa listened to this. “Are you alright?” She asked after a moment.

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” Dinah promised, hoping this wasn't an empty promise. There was a chance she could be dead within a couple of hours. “I’ll see you later.”

“Okay,” Nyssa said, and hung up. Dinah took a deep breath. She appreciated the concern, but she was also used to doing things her own way.

It was still dark enough out that Dinah was having trouble clearly making out shapes. Trees and bushes often gave her reason to pause, but she knew she was just on edge. Killer Frost could be anywhere nearby.

As she entered the centre part of the park, she knew she had to be close. The air she was breathing out was visible, and the ground was covered in ice. The fountain, too, appeared to largely be frozen. Swallowing, Dinah prepared herself. It was colder here than it had been anywhere else—Killer Frost had to be close by.

"Dinah?!" A feminine voice exclaimed as she rounded the fountain, louder than she would have expected, which concerned her as she still didn't know where Killer Frost was. The woman was sitting on a bench, her arms and legs bound in ice, although she had free use of her head. Whoever this woman was would bring Killer Frost beelining back here; Dinah almost told her to shut up as she walked closer to her, but knew that the meeting had to happen.

When she got near enough to see her face, Dinah stopped, shocked. It was Iris West, the reporter from Central City. Why would Killer Frost bring _her_ here? Iris had been nice to her, sure, but Dinah wasn't The Flash.

"Iris West?" Dinah asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question, Siren," a cold voice commented behind her. Spinning around, Dinah came face to face with the villain in all her pale glory. Her blue eyes were as distant as ever as they appraised her, an unamused smirk appearing on her face. "I've been looking for you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd apologise for taking a very long time to update, but I'm a university student. University kicks my ass and I have very little time for myself which I usually spend on things other than writing, so I am sorry for that, but it's going to be a reality with this fic until the semester ends, in all likelihood!
> 
> That being said, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm still trying to work out how to seamlessly integrate Felicity into it (because by popular vote you all want me to include her) so she will make her first appearance next chapter.


	6. Wilting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> at last. Alas  
> it is a boring song  
> but it works every time.

The pale woman’s cold blue eyes stared unblinkingly at her, frightening in how soulless they made her look. “Hello, Siren.”

Dinah had always found her demeanour to be incredibly imposing, but it was even worse now that she had to play the villain opposite her—if Killer Frost suspected a thing, she would attack. Dinah had to be on her A game. _If Zoom sent her here though, she’s going to attack anyway,_ she thought bitterly. If she were to find out exactly what it was Killer Frost wanted, Dinah knew it would be better for her if any fighting could be delayed for as long as possible.

“I thought you were dead, Frost,” Dinah accused, her chest feeling tight in her anticipation.

“It was all a part of Zoom’s plan,” Killer Frost replied, tilting her head, a small smirk appearing on her face. “I sure was surprised when I came back into town and Zoom told me you’d left.”

“So he sent you after me?” Dinah said, breathing more heavily, her hands flexing by her side. “What did he say?”

“I’m sure you know, Siren,” she said as she stepped closer to her, with Dinah instinctively stepping back in response. If she weren’t careful, the villainess would have her cornered against the wall behind the bench Iris was on. “He was a little upset.”

“Upset?” Dinah forced herself to appear nonchalant, cracking a grin. She hoped it didn’t look too forced. “I can’t imagine him being anything other than angry.”

Killer Frost stared at her for a moment, assessing her, a small squint in her eyes. “Oh, trust me. He was.”

Dinah believed her.

“He told me I had to find you by any means necessary and either bring you back to him or kill you. He mentioned that you’d run into her,” she jerked her head in Iris’s direction, “and I thought that was surprising in of itself. You left somebody _alive_ when you left that could tell me where to find you?” Her tone was incredibly judgmental, and for a moment the old Dinah rose up in her.

“I was planning to kill her the moment I finished up here,” she hissed, her eyes flashing fire as she defended herself. “I don’t care about her. She gave me a way to find my doppelgänger’s grave. That’s all.” It was partially true, at least. Dinah had originally planned on doing just that, but Iris had been helpful. That had granted her her life, but Killer Frost didn’t need to know that.

Killer Frost laughed. A real laugh, and Dinah shivered as she watched her turn to stare at Iris. “I guess there was no real reason to bring you here then, gorgeous.” Dinah’s gaze flickered down as her hand started to shimmer with cold magic.

“You’re here to kill me, aren’t you? Why don’t we get that over with,” Dinah said suddenly, trying to divert her attention back to her and away from Iris. The urge to stop Killer Frost murdering someone she didn’t know felt strange, especially when she knew she had to be on her guard to protect herself.

“Yeah,” Killer Frost sighed, staring thoughtfully at Dinah. “I’m in an interesting position here. With you gone, there’s just Reverb left.”

 _Reverb is alive?_ Dinah thought, frowning at this new information, wondering how that was possible.

“And once I kill him,” she continued, “I’ll be the only one by Zoom’s side. He might even give me a little more freedom once I do this.”

“You are just as expendable as the rest of us, Frost. There will always be more metahumans—you know this,” Dinah warned, her gaze flicking sideways quickly as she stepped closer to Iris. “Don’t kid yourself into thinking anything will change with only you around.”

“That’s strange,” Killer Frost murmured, copying her move in the other direction. “Is that _concern_ I hear?”

“Not at all,” Dinah muttered, continuing her slow side-stepping while she searched for the right words. “You are too powerful to waste your time with someone like him. Why don’t you do what I did? Go out on your own.”

“Because he’s the most powerful out of all of us,” Killer Frost looked at her strangely. “It would be ridiculous to even begin to think I could outrun his wrath.”

Coming to a stop directly in front of Iris, Dinah could feel the woman behind her staring at her, confused at their sudden proximity. She was utterly silent, watching the two woman talk—almost too silent. However, her silence had allowed for Dinah to get close to her, which was good, because it would give her the opportunity to free her. The only problem was making sure Iris wouldn’t be hurt with the power of her cry.

 _Ridiculous,_ Dinah thought. She didn’t know Iris. There should be no concern for her safety in _how_ she freed her.

Except there was. Dinah hadn’t thought about the proper breathing techniques required to centre her cry in years. She used to think about it all the time when fighting with Oliver and the others, as she had never wanted them to get hit with the full force of her attack then, either. It was difficult, and it would never be perfect, but it helped nonetheless.

Looking directly into Killer Frost’s eyes, she could see the same unblinking cold soul she had seen a thousand times. But that was good, because it meant that she wasn’t suspicious enough yet to prepare herself for an attack. Dinah had the element of surprise, and with one deep breath, she took it.

“Did you honestly think that you could hide from him forever, Siren?” Killer Frost scoffed.

 _Of course not._ Opening her mouth, Dinah screamed, planting her feet and pushing the force of it towards her. She watched as Killer Frost’s eyes widened dramatically and only stopped screaming when the force of the cry hit her, sending her flying. Dinah also heard Iris’s yell of surprise, and quickly turned around to her, punching cleanly through the ice holding her in place. It hurt, but it didn’t hurt as much as she knew it would once Killer Frost came to her senses and sent a blizzard against them.

“Come on,” Dinah growled, pulling Iris to her feet. Deep down, she couldn’t believe she was doing this as she did not know this woman at all. Iris was staring open-mouthed at Killer Frost sprawled on the ground, but allowed Dinah to pull her along after her. “Get it together,” she scolded, not sure if she was ordering herself or Iris to do this.

“Thank you,” Iris said quietly, a glimmer of hope in her voice.

Dinah rolled her eyes, but a small warmth spread throughout her. “We’re not in the clear yet. We have to _move._ ”

“Where?”

Quickly scanning the park, Dinah could see a parking garage a few minutes’ run from them. It would hopefully have adequate enough protection from Killer Frost… after that it would just be a matter of getting Iris away from Star City. _If only I had some way to contact The Flash…_

Pursing her lips for a moment, she ordered Iris to follow after her as fast as possible. The two of them took off running, sprinting out of the park and into the multilevelled parking garage—thankfully the park was in the centre of town, as if they got out of it in time they could move rather easily from building to building without being seen.

Casting a quick look next to her, checking that Iris was still beside her, Dinah could feel the panic setting in. Killer Frost couldn’t have been on the ground for long, which meant she would have been able to see them running this way. They only had a few minutes’ lead over her, and Dinah knew she wasn’t about to let them get away. _Her_ life depended on catching Dinah just as much as Dinah’s depended on not being caught by her. They both knew that there was no disappointing Zoom.

The sound of their boots on the concrete once they hit the garage echoed throughout. They had to be more quiet—if they ran for too long, Killer Frost would be able to hear them. Dinah slowed to a brisk jog, Iris following suit, and the two of them searched for any possible hiding spots. It wasn’t the best place, Dinah realised disappointedly, as it was too early in the day for it to be full of cars.

 _There,_ Dinah thought, looking at the stairwell. They could go up a couple of floors and find a place to hide while giving Dinah some time to think of a better place. Opening the door, Iris cast a nervous glance behind them as Dinah ushered her through and shut it firmly. Both of them were nearly out of breath, and Dinah knew they couldn’t just keep running.

The second level above the ground floor had parking spots enclosed by more walls, which Dinah realised in relief would be good enough for the time being. As they hurried over to the far side, trying to stay as quiet as they could, Dinah knew Killer Frost had to be close by. Dinah pushed Iris down behind one of the concrete walls, the two of them collapsing and immediately waiting nervously for any sign of the villain. They were in a good enough position to be able to see half of the entire floor. The place they had decided on was at the far back of the level, but enclosed enough that Killer Frost wouldn’t be able to see them if she only briefly searched for them. The concrete pillars and walls that dotted the level gave them the best available hiding place with their limited timeframe.

Dinah and Iris stared at each other, wide-eyed, breathing heavily.

“What are we going to do?” Iris asked as loudly as she dared, her body moving every now and then as if she were going to look around the corner to see if they were alone.

“I don’t know,” Dinah breathed. “I don’t know if she saw us go this way. But there’s no way she’s not going to look.”

A few tense minutes passed as they waited. Dinah’s muscles clenched suddenly, her heart racing as they heard the sound of a door opening. The only door—the door to the stairwell which they had just come through. Straining her hearing, Dinah tried to listen for the sound of her shoes as she walked, but realised with a jolt that she couldn’t. Killer Frost was utterly silent, and that meant she would have an easy time searching the level for them.

Dinah turned and looked at Iris, who was staring at her worriedly. Looking back, Dinah could just see the light above the door where they had come through, but didn’t know if Killer Frost was standing there waiting or if she was moving around. Chewing her bottom lip, Dinah looked at the other side of the garage — the light coming in from the gaps showed there was a smaller building right next-door that, if they ran for it, might just be high enough for them to jump across to it without seriously injuring themselves. It would be easy for Dinah, but she wasn’t sure if Iris had ever had to do something like that.

Iris noticed where Dinah was looking, and gripped her arm, whispering, “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m deadly serious. Unless you want to make a break for the door, it’s the only place I can see that could work.”

“Dinah—there’s not enough room to jump through!”

“There is. I can scream and blow a hole through the wall, easy. It will alert Killer Frost to our location, of course, but I’d prefer doing that than running in the direction she probably still is waiting.”

“I don’t—“

“There’s no time! We have to go, now,” Dinah hissed, rising to her feet and pulling Iris up next to her. “I am _not_ going back to Zoom! It’s the only way.”

“Fine,” Iris conceded, and the two of them peered around the corner. Seeing nothing as Dinah’s heart beat erratically in her chest, feeling the adrenaline flood her body, they took off. The wall was a good fifty metres from them, and Dinah was so _sure_ they could make it.

“We’re nearly—“ Dinah began, but stopped when she felt the temperature drop suddenly, and spun around just in time to see Iris get hit by a blast of cold magic that sent her falling to the ground. Diving out of the way, Dinah was able to avoid being hit, but she could see Iris was bleeding from being knocked down so hard. Groaning, she looked behind her at something Dinah couldn’t see from her position, and then back at her, eyes wide.

Dinah panicked, jumping to her feet as her body instinctively moved to run, but then stared down at Iris as she stared up at her.

“Dinah!” Iris yelled, her mouth open in disbelief and her arm outstretched. Her dark eyes stared at her, pleading with her.

Dinah’s eyes snapped up in that moment to look behind the frightened reporter. Killer Frost had just entered her line of sight, standing behind Iris at the same distance away from her as Dinah was. Dinah could either go and grab Iris’s hand, saving them both, or she could run and save herself. Her mind raced—there was no guarantee she would have the time to get to Iris and back again if she decided to do that.

 _Save her!_ One part of her head was shouting at her incessantly. _You promised Laurel! She would never leave somebody behind, especially an innocent civilian! You know it’s what a hero would do!_

The other part of her head was loud, too, but in another way. Memories, images of Zoom, of his power, of what he did to those who betrayed him, of how he hurt her and everybody she ever loved flashed through her mind. She couldn’t go back to him—to go back was suicide. _Save yourself,_ this part of her mind was telling her quietly, repeatedly. _Save yourself! You don’t owe Iris anything._

Dinah had been following her own interests for a long time. As soon as she swore her unwavering loyalty to Zoom, she had known how to survive in this world—you had to look out for yourself. There was no time to worry about anybody else because they might be dead the following day. As a result, the idea of sacrificing herself for someone she didn’t know didn’t sit right with her.

Dinah had an uneasy feeling in her stomach… she had never felt so conflicted, but as she stared into the eyes of Killer Frost she knew what she had to do.

Turning around, Dinah opened her mouth and screamed at the wall, watching it crumble before her eyes. She was right—the building next-door was high enough for her to be able to make it if she jumped. Looking behind her, Dinah watched as Killer Frost began advancing towards her. _I can’t go back to Zoom,_ she thought, the decision already made.

“Dinah!” Iris shouted again as Dinah ran and leapt from the garage, twisting her body into a dive roll to avoid getting seriously hurt upon landing. With a thud, she hit the roof, and looked back up to where she had jumped at the hole in the wall where she could see Iris staring at her, shocked.

The relief that washed over her for getting away lasted only for a moment, as Dinah felt with a sickening realisation while she stared at Iris that she had made a mistake.

 _What have I done?_ Dinah thought, fear pricking her skin as she watched Killer Frost stop next to Iris. Looking away before she could see anything, blinking the sudden tears from her eyes, she ran. It had been a couple of hours….she had to go back and see Nyssa. Killer Frost would be occupied enough to let her get away… _Oh god. What have I done?_

* * *

_I haven’t changed,_ Dinah thought as she approached Laurel’s apartment, the guilty feeling in her chest making it incredibly hard for her to breathe. She entered and shut the door behind her, leaning back against the door heavily while staring down at her boots. The Black Canary would have saved Iris. There was no doubt about it in her mind—Laurel would have found a way.

 _Laurel didn’t have to worry about being dragged back to a supervillain who murdered your entire family, though,_ she tried to justify her decision, but shook her head. She couldn’t think like that. She had made a mistake and Iris was dead because of it.

“There you are,” Nyssa’s voice called from the living room, and Dinah looked up warily, almost expecting her to know what she had done.

Pushing away from the door, Dinah scrubbed at her face and trudged further into the apartment. When she found Nyssa sitting cross-legged on the floor next to the couches, she frowned, confused.

“What are you doing?” Dinah asked.

“Meditating.” Nyssa replied with her eyes closed, her arms gently resting against her legs. She cracked open an eye and looked up at Dinah. “I almost didn’t expect you to come back.”

“Really?” Dinah crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow. “Why is that?”

She sighed, rolling her head and relaxing her posture, her arms coming to rest in her lap as she stared up at her. “You sounded strange on the phone.”

“No,” Dinah frowned again, looking at her cautiously. “That’s not it,” she said as she glanced at one of the clocks on the wall. “You were waiting for me to get back in exactly two hours, weren’t you?”

Nyssa shrugged. “Yes.”

“Okay, it’s not your job to do that. I never asked you to. Why would you even care?” Dinah scowled down at her.

Nyssa stood up in one fluid motion, staring Dinah down. “I _care_ because I don’t _know_ you, Dinah. You could have been out there… doing any number of things.”

Dinah frowned, stepping back a bit to take her in fully, feeling confused. “You don’t trust me.”

Nyssa paused, and Dinah watched as she bit her inner cheek. “No. I do not,” she said composedly.

“I see,” Dinah murmured, pressing her lips together. “What happened to the friendliness you’ve shown me up until now?”

“That wasn’t fake. Not really,” Nyssa sighed. “Look, Dinah, you were a literal villain. I am not really in a position to judge a murderer given that I am an assassin, but I’ve never been an outright _villain._ Never good, perhaps, but…”

Dinah thought back over their night. Nyssa was a skilled actress if she was playing _her_ all evening. “So you brought me to the Arrow Cave because…? What? You wanted to see what the others would do?”

Dinah took Nyssa’s silence as confirmation. “Wow,” Dinah muttered, walking past her and into Laurel’s room with Nyssa following after a moment.

“I don’t really know how to tell if someone can be redeemed or not, Dinah,” the frustration was evident in her voice as Dinah kept her back turned to her, listening. “I wanted to see if you would act the same around an entire group of people or if their presence would break you.”

“You thought I was working for Zoom?” Dinah turned on her, hurt. It was unreasonable to think that she would be trusted instantly, but she had thought a friendship had been developing with this woman. Clearly, she had been wrong.

“Maybe. Like I said, I don’t know you,” Nyssa appeared to be utterly nonchalant. “I knew Laurel. I wanted to believe you and I was willing to take that chance but I wasn’t going to leave it just to that. Your actions in the Cave and John and Thea’s acceptance of you convinced me that you may be trustworthy, until this morning when you left me here.”

“You want to know what I was doing?” Dinah scowled at her. “Are you going to run and tell them if I do?”

“I will do whatever it takes to make sure you do not ruin Laurel’s name any more than you already have,” Nyssa bluntly replied. “But yes, I would like to know. I do like what I have seen of you, Dinah. That hasn’t changed. Our conversation last night… I like you, really. I do. My _trust,_ however, must be earned.”

Dinah stared at her as Nyssa stared back. They were standing very close to one another, and when Nyssa’s eyes flickered down to Dinah’s lips Dinah sucked in a breath in surprise, breaking the tension as she stepped back.

“I wish I had the right to be more angry at this,” Dinah finally murmured, turning her back and looking for anything of hers in the room. “It hurts that you don’t trust me, but I know I don’t deserve it.”

Nyssa leant against the doorframe, watching as Dinah picked her few possessions up. She could tell Dinah was nervous. “What did you do, Dinah?” She asked carefully.

Running her hands through her dark hair, Dinah felt the pierce of guilt hit her again. “I…” Spinning around, knowing this would very likely end any relationship she had had with this woman, she felt a sudden pang in her chest. She really had liked her. “I… I let this girl die today."

“You _what?”_  Nyssa exclaimed, and then looked quickly over her shoulder.“Wait, we'll get to that in a moment,” she said as she held up a hand, looking back over at Dinah and gesturing for her to follow her silently.

Frowning, Dinah obliged, trailing after the assassin who was intently listening to something. Cocking her head, she listened too, and then heard what had alerted Nyssa. She could hear voices right outside the apartment which were steadily growing louder. Dinah panicked for a moment, thinking Killer Frost had found her, and then caught herself. Killer Frost didn’t know where Laurel lived. She was safe. She was simply on edge thanks to the morning's events and her subsequent confession to Nyssa.

“Nyssa?” A voice asked as the front door opened, and they both immediately relaxed.

“Thea,” Nyssa sighed, the relief evident in her voice, walking into the entryway to greet her.

Thea looked at both of them, her eyebrows furrowing. “I _told_ you I was coming over.”

“You did,” Nyssa remembered. “Sorry. I forgot.”

There was another woman accompanying Thea, who was looking around at the apartment with a curious interest on her face. That was, until she noticed Dinah standing next to Nyssa, and her mouth fell open before she could stop herself.

“Oh… my god…” she gasped, staring at her in shock, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

“Dinah Laurel Lance,” Thea began, gesturing first to her and then to the woman next to her. “This is Felicity.”

“Hi,” Felicity greeted her, the hand covering her mouth coming up to wave at her uncertainly. Her eyes betrayed how she really felt though—Dinah could see how surprised she was to see her. She supposed it was one thing to be told she looked exactly like Laurel and another to really see it.

It was also as she stared at this woman that Dinah realised she had no idea who she was. _Felicity,_ Dinah thought, trying to come up with anyone by that name on her world and coming up short.

“Felicity came by my place and Oliver and I told her about what happened last night,” Thea sighed, walking into the apartment, with Felicity hovering nervously by the door. “He’s still very adamant that he wants nothing to do with you, Dinah.”

Dinah pursed her lips, looking at Nyssa briefly, but she didn’t return the look. Now that they knew who was at the door, she could feel the tension building between the two of them.

“I was just saying to Thea that it’s strange to be here,” Felicity said, her eyes behind her glasses looking around before focusing her attention back on Dinah. “It’s even weirder to see you, of course…”

“Have you never been here before?” Dinah asked her politely.

“No,” she replied, looking down momentarily as soon as Dinah spoke. It was the first thing she had said to Felicity, Dinah realised. “I was friends with Laurel, but I never came here… and then after she…”

“I get it,” Dinah said gently, and followed after Thea into the living room, not feeling like she should sit. Nyssa clearly felt the same, standing opposite her and staring at her, but Thea and Felicity seemed to not have noticed the tension in the air.

Thea took her leather jacket off and hung it over the back of the sofa, drawing her legs up onto the couch next to her. “So,” she sighed, looking between them all. “Nyssa told me that you weren’t here this morning.”

“I wasn’t,” Dinah murmured, looking at Nyssa. It had only been a couple of hours—she must have been awake when Dinah left, she realised.

“She told me before you got here that she let a girl die today,” Nyssa said quietly, staring at Dinah suspiciously.

“What?” Thea and Felicity both gasped, staring up at Dinah with wide eyes.

“You made a promise. How could you break it in such a way, Laurel— Dinah?” Nyssa tried to catch her slip-up as she stepped closer to her.

It was the final blow for Dinah. “ _I’m not Laurel Lance,_ ” she glared at her. “I’m not Laurel Lance! I never will be. Today proves that. I can’t be her.”

“Nobody ever said you had to be exactly like her,” Thea said, sounding gentler than she deserved in that moment.

“But I let a girl die today! Laurel would _never_ do that.”

“Who was it?” Nyssa repeated firmly.

“Iris West,” Dinah breathed, feeling the band around her heart constrict even tighter. Saying it out loud felt real. Iris was gone and it was all her fault.

“Iris?” Felicity yelped, staring at Thea in terror. “No. No no no…”

Dinah covered her face with her hands, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes and not wanting to cry in front of them. She didn't deserve any pity. "Killer Frost got to her. I made a decision to save myself instead of saving both of us and it cost her her life."

The three of them were deathly silent as they processed this. Dinah failed to notice the strange look that passed between Thea and Felicity, and then as Felicity pulled out her phone and quickly texted somebody, tapping her fingers nervously against her leg while she waited for a reply.

"Why would Killer Frost want to kill Iris West? Why would she do that in front of you?" Thea wondered. It sounded too strange to her.

"Because Killer Frost works for Zoom," Dinah dragged her hand over her face, letting them fall down again, feeling utterly exposed. "I thought she was dead, but she clearly isn't, and Zoom sent her here to come after me and bring me back to him."

"But...Iris?" Felicity said quietly, unable to meet Dinah's eyes. 

"I met her in Central City," Dinah murmured. "Killer Frost heard about it and the fact that I didn't kill her. She used Iris as bait to bring me to her."

“Why are you so upset about this?” Nyssa asked after a moment of silence, her eyes looking over her sharply. “Why are you scared of the fact Killer Frost did this to you?”

“You mean aside from the fact that I thought I was really changing and yet Iris is now dead because of me?” Dinah began to pace back and forth, biting her fingernails. “It means The Flash will come after me... everybody knows how much of a thing he has for her. It means that Killer Frost failed and so she’s going to keep searching for me, and if _she_ fails, Zoom will come after me. It means no matter what happens now, I’m screwed. Zoom will come here looking for me... it's inevitable. I... I can't stay. I have to leave." She dug her fingernails into her arms, trying to centre herself. 

The three of them were quiet, listening to her as she ranted. They could feel how freaked out she was, but if Iris truly was dead, they weren't really sure what to say to her.

"Oliver doesn't want me here," Dinah murmured finally. "I know you three don't want me here either, now that you know this. If I am to survive, I have to leave."

"No," Thea shook her head, standing up and placing her hands on Dinah's shoulders to get her to stop pacing. She believed in the person she had spoken to the night before, there was no way this was the end of the road for her. Thea had murdered plenty of people and she had always been forgiven. She didn't think it was fair that they were writing Dinah off without giving her a chance. "Listen to me, Dinah. What is more important to you? Self preservation or your promise to Laurel as the Black Canary?"

Dinah stared down at the brunette's fierce expression. Her heart warred with itself. On the one hand, she wanted more than anything to believe she had truly changed, but she knew that today proved she hadn't. "Self preservation," she finally said, closing her eyes in resignation.

Thea dropped her hands, stepping back in shock. She exchanged a dismayed look with Nyssa. "But..."

"You promised Laurel," Nyssa stepped in, standing next to Thea. "Aside from anything, does that not give you reason to stay?"

"You promised," Thea repeated.

Dinah's vision blurred and she felt the tears in her eyes spill over. She blinked rapidly before any more could fall. "Then this is me breaking that promise. I'm a villain, you may as well think of me as such. Clearly I haven't changed."

As she said that, Dinah walked out of Laurel Lance’s apartment, leaving them staring after her. She could feel their judgment radiating off of them, and she couldn’t take it anymore. She hated herself enough for the lot of them.

The only thing on her mind was getting out of the city. She had to get away from the reach of Killer Frost and everybody else she knew there. She had to survive. It was her only thought. She could feel the same fear gripping her that had gripped her on the night she had run out of a similar building on her world, her friends’ blood splattered across her as the sole thing on her mind was surviving. That was, until Zoom had appeared in front of her, forcing her to swear her undying loyalty to him while their blood dripped from his black suit.

She would be damned if she let Zoom do that to her again. She could change that on this world—Zoom would never find her here. He couldn’t.

Dinah hot-wired the first car she came across and drove out of the city, fleeing from the few people she had started to know. Ollie and Mia’s doppelgänger’s were back in that city. Roy and Connor—if they existed on this Earth—may also be out there. She knew she would be protecting them if she avoided their city. Zoom couldn’t use them to harm her if she had seemingly never been anywhere near them.

She’d already let Iris West die, and she could not have another person’s life weighing on her conscience.

 _Oh god…_ Dinah thought, her eyesight blurring as she drove. She let Iris West die. The Flash may not even know that she was dead… she started hyperventilating. How could she have let that happen? She had been doing so well. She had been doing the best she could in those circumstances, truly. Up until Killer Frost was standing _right there_ and Iris had fallen too far from her, she had truly believed Laurel would be proud of her. She was being as heroic as she could.

But now what would she think? She would think she were a joke. She couldn’t be the Black Canary if she let a woman _die._ She’d broken her promise to Laurel, and as a result not only would Zoom be coming after her, but in all likelihood The Flash would too. She felt sick.

The road blurred. She’d been driving for hours, but the fear was still just as present as it was when she had left Laurel’s apartment. The tears had long dried on her face, but somehow every time she tried to relax, she would be reminded of the fact that Iris was gone and that it was her fault. Everything was her fault. She had failed.

The sudden blaring of a large truck’s horn made her jump to awareness on the road, and gasping, her eyes widened as she realised she was headed straight for a couple of large very solid-looking crates that must have fallen off another truck, their contents strewn all across the highway. Slamming on the brakes, she attempted to swerve away from them, but had little to no options — the truck coming the other way with the horn was blocking that side of the road. She was forced to swerve the other way, straight off the road.

She hadn’t been expecting there to be a massive drop, however, as she freaked out while the car fell for a few metres before crashing front-first and then fell back to land properly. She could see in the moments after the car settled that it was wrecked from the smoke rising from the bonnet. _Fantastic,_ Dinah thought, shaking herself off.

Dinah had no idea where she was. A highway in the middle of nowhere, miles from any city she knew. It was as good a place as any to hide from Zoom, she thought bitterly, as she got out of the totalled car and began walking up and into the safety of the trees. She could see the road from where she was, but she wasn’t hidden well enough if for whatever reason The Flash or Zoom came looking for her. There was no point going anymore uphill though—she had to be able to find a way to keep going. She’d spend the night against these trees, waiting to see if anybody would come to investigate the crates that had caused her to crash.

Sinking to the floor, she curled up against the tree, the guilt and tears and worry she had been feeling all day culminating into a massive wave of exhaustion. What was the point? She'd failed miserably in her first true test as the Black Canary. Iris West was dead. Nyssa and Oliver hated her now, and she knew she couldn't have gotten any points in Thea and Felicity's books. Most importantly, she had failed Laurel.

 _Please forgive me, Laurel,_ Dinah thought as she succumbed to her exhaustion, letting the darkness take her.

* * *

Iris stared blankly after Dinah as her mind raced to process what had just happened. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder, and looking up, she stared into the disappointed—yet scary—eyes of Killer Frost.

“You okay?” She asked, the cold tone dropping completely now that they were alone. “Sorry for hitting you so hard.”

“Yeah, and it’s okay,” Iris replied, accepting her hand and getting to her feet. “I really thought that would work. It was a good set-up, Caitlin,” Iris murmured, staring at the place where Dinah had just stood. “We’ll have to tell Cisco his plan worked flawlessly. I just wanted to believe she really was capable of more.”

“No offence, Iris, but you met this woman one time. Statistically speaking, not killing you or otherwise hurting you once does not mean she has changed forever,” Caitlin shivered in her light purple jacket, walking over to where she had dropped the small _“Killer Frost”_ variation of Captain Cold’s gun that Cisco had created for this mission. “I’m just glad she bought the ruse. I don’t even want to know what she would have done if she had seen me use this. Thank god you picked a place that allowed me to hide it once I used it.”

“Yeah,” Iris laughed nervously. “You played a good villain.”

Caitlin shrugged, picking the gun up and tucking it back into her sleeve, turning the shimmering effect off as she did so. “If I’m being honest, Killer Frost isn’t that difficult to play.”

Iris looked at her for a moment, surprised, before speaking. “What do you think Dinah would have done if she had found out we were playing her?”

“Kill us?” Caitlin suggested automatically. “It’s what a villain would do. Come on, let’s head back to the park and grab the rest of our things.”

 _I don’t want to believe that,_ Iris thought as she followed after her friend. She truly had believed that she had seen something in Dinah that night in the station, yet here she had left her to die by the hands of Killer Frost and Zoom. For all Dinah knew, she had just sentenced Iris to death when she fled to save herself. Iris couldn’t believe it… she was so sure they were in the clear and Dinah could get her out of the city, but she guessed Caitlin was right. Cisco, Wells and Barry had told her the same—none of them had believed there was any way Black Siren had suddenly changed.

When they returned to the park, Caitlin set about fixing it so that the ice could melt faster and return to normal, while Iris gathered their things into a small pile. As she did so, she felt something vibrate in one of the bags, and searching through them, pulled out Caitlin’s phone.

“Hey,” she said, getting her attention before throwing her phone to her. “You have a text.”

Caitlin caught it and looked down. _Felicity Smoak_ was highlighted on the screen, asking her where she was. Caitlin tapped out a reply: _In Star City. We should get coffee while I’m here._

Felicity replied instantly. _Star City? Are you alone?_

Caitlin frowned, wondering why she was being so persistent about this. _No, Iris is with me._

It took a minute for Felicity to reply, and when she did, Caitlin knew she had nothing to worry about. Felicity was always behaving strangely. _Oh, cool,_ she had replied. _When you’re free and feel like it, come to the Cave. I’ll probably be there all day._

Caitlin replied that she would, and then set about removing her wig, makeup and contacts. She couldn’t walk around the city dressed like Killer Frost or else they would likely send the Green Arrow after her, and it would be hard—if not embarrassing—to explain to Oliver why she was dressed like that. “Felicity wants to meet up,” she said to Iris once she finished. “Want to go and get lunch with her?”

“Sure,” Iris replied as she finished dressing her wound from being knocked over. “I’m just gonna call Barry, okay?”

Dialling Barry’s number, holding her phone to her ear and sitting on the bench she had been pretending to be bound to before, Iris sighed. She hated knowing that she had just been proven wrong about Dinah Lance, and knew Barry would likely say the same thing.

“Hey Iris,” Barry greeted her easily, sounding happy to be hearing from her.

“Hey, Barry,” Iris replied, sounding more upset than she expected to.

Barry picked up on it immediately, of course, his cheery tone dropping to make sure she was okay. “Are you alright?”

“I’m okay,” Iris confirmed, and she could hear him sigh through the phone.

“That’s good to hear,” Barry replied, pausing as he waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, he spoke up again, prompting her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Sorry,” Iris sighed, staring out over the park, somehow hoping that she would see Dinah coming back to check on her. “Are you busy right now?”

“Not particularly, I’m just at the lab waiting for some results to come through,” he sighed now, and Iris smiled despite herself. His speed meant he could do everything fast, but when he was forced to wait a normal amount of time for things, he was endlessly impatient. It was highly amusing to her to see. “Do you need me to do something?”

“I don’t know,” Iris looked down at her nails, and then blurted out, “Black Siren didn’t do what I had hoped she would do, Bar. She left me to die.”

Barry was silent for a moment as he processed this, and then replied gently, “I would say I’m sorry, and well—I am, believe me—but didn’t we kinda warn you that this would happen?”

“You did,” Iris admitted quietly, picking at her nails, anxious. “It’s clear that she hasn’t changed. You can come to Star City and put her in the Pipeline, Barry. I just had to know for sure.”

“You did nothing wrong,” Barry told her softly. “It’s her fault, not yours.”

Worry settled itself in her stomach even as Barry promised her that he and Cisco would be on their way to Star City later that day. _She hasn’t changed,_ she thought as she hung up. She hated that she was wrong about this, but there was nothing else to do. If she hadn’t changed, she had to be stopped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was a difficult chapter to write. I hope I didn't scare too many of you into thinking I'd really killed Iris... I just wanted that worry to last ;P Anyway, thanks for reading, sorry for the long delay in updates as always, and let me just say you guys are in for a treat next chapter (Dinahollie galoreeeee~)


	7. Five by Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the one song everyone  
> would like to learn: the song  
> that is irresistible

Nyssa, Thea and Felicity stared at the door in silence for a few minutes as they processed what had just happened.

“Is there anything we can even do?” Thea asked, leaning on her arm against the couch. “She told us that she cares more about saving herself from Zoom than her promise to Laurel.”

“Are you sure she didn’t just say that because she’s scared?” Felicity asked quietly, still drumming her fingers against her skirt. “She seemed pretty terrified to me,” she added after a moment of silence, looking down when her phone lit up.

“What is it?” Thea asked her, looking down at it too.

“Caitlin is in Star City,” Felicity murmured, her brow furrowing as she tapped out a reply. A moment later when she got a response, the frown on her face deepened. “And Iris is too. She wants to meet up.”

“Well that can’t be right,” Thea said as she and Felicity stared at each other. “Dinah just said Iris died.”

“Maybe she got it wrong?” Felicity shrugged. “I don’t think we have the full story. Hang on, I’ll call Barry.”

Barry picked up after only a couple of beats, greeting her cheerily, which signalled to her that nothing was wrong. _“Felicity! It’s been a while.”_

“I know, Barry,” Felicity smiled, and then cleared her throat. “Um, so… I was wondering how Iris is doing?”

 _“Good. Why? We’re still just friends, Felicity, nothing is happening…”_ he said hurriedly, a hint of exasperation in his voice, as if he answered this question all the time.

While she found his defensiveness amusing, she still needed to find out if Iris really was okay. “When is the last time you actually heard from her?”

 _“A couple of minutes ago. Why?”_ Barry replied easily, with no hint of deception in his voice.

“A couple of minutes ago?” Felicity repeated, pulling away from her phone to look at it as if she had heard wrong, before staring at Thea and Nyssa in turn. “That’s… great. Fantastic. That’s all I wanted to know, I’ll, uh… see you later.”

“A _couple of minutes ago?_ ” Thea shook her head the moment Felicity hung up. “Maybe it’s a trick. Maybe Killer Frost is forcing her to talk to him.”

“Maybe,” Felicity agreed, biting down on her lower lip. “But maybe it isn’t. Maybe Iris is totally fine and we just let Dinah Lance believe she basically killed her…”

“And if that is true and she thinks it’s her fault then she is running from something she didn’t actually do,” Thea finished, leaning back against the couch and staring up at the ceiling. “Well this is just great.”

Nyssa sank into the armchair next to their couch, looking thoughtful, her expression in a deep frown. “I agree with Felicity. I don’t think we have the full story. There has to be a way to find out for sure that Iris West is fine?”

“She’s coming with Caitlin to meet me at the Arrow Cave,” Felicity stared back down at her phone to double check. “We can go there and see if that really happens.”

“I’ll let Ollie know,” Thea murmured, pulling up her phone to send him a text. If Killer Frost somehow had found out about the Cave, they would need backup.

“There’s another problem… even if Dinah didn’t do it, she still made the decision not to save her. It’s still bad but…” Thea trailed off, clearing her throat as she tried to ease the guilt she felt. “I’ve done worse.”

“Either way, Dinah has killed people. Just like you, just like me,” Nyssa sighed, her fingers coming up to rub at her temples. “We shouldn’t have been so quick to judge her.”

“We don’t even know if Iris is okay,” Felicity murmured. “Let’s save the judgment for after we know what the hell is going on.”

“Okay,” Thea exhaled. “Let’s go. Better to get this over with now.”

* * *

Nyssa and Thea swept into the Cave first, flanking each other’s backs, their eyes darting over every inch of the space for any possible threat.

“I think we’re good,” Thea stated, looking over her shoulder at Nyssa, who nodded. “You can come in, Felicity.”

Felicity walked out of the elevator and straight over to her computer system, booting it up and tapping away, searching for any strange sightings over the past few hours. Nyssa and Thea came up behind her, watching silently as she did so.

“Look at this,” Felicity murmured, leaning forward slightly as she read the seemingly most relevant article. “The park had traces of ice this morning.”

“Killer Frost?” Thea asked.

“Yeah. It hasn’t been cold enough for snow for a while,” Felicity replied. “But here’s the weird part, there’s no way this was even real snow. Look at this,” she gestured to the accompanying pictures. “The marks on the ground? This was manufactured. There had to have been machines there which left these marks. Everything looks too precise.”

“That doesn’t sound like something an ice villain would do,” Thea raised an eyebrow. “Not that I’ve ever seen her use her magic.”

“No, you’re right,” Felicity looked up at her, the two of them frowning at one another. “There’s something off about this. We really shouldn’t have let Dinah leave when she was so upset. For all we know, we’ve just made it all worse.”

Nyssa sighed. “We can apologise to her once we find her, Felicity. We still need to know if Iris is really okay.”

“What happened to Iris?” Oliver asked as he exited the elevator, his face already in a deep frown. “Does Barry know?”

“I called him, he said Iris is fine,” Felicity murmured in response, still looking intently at her screens.

“Iris is meeting us here in a bit with Caitlin supposedly,” Thea turned to look at her brother. “That’s why I texted you. Just in case it’s not actually them who turns up.” She quickly filled him in on the rest of the events, and Oliver pressed his lips together.

“Great. You let a known villain run off, upset, not having any idea where she went,” he deadpanned, his eyes narrowing slightly. “Not the best move, guys.”

“Hey,” Nyssa put her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing. “We didn’t have time to react. We believed she broke her promise to Laurel and murdered somebody.”

“Whatever,” Oliver sighed, walking over and sinking into a chair, running a hand over his face. “Felicity, you need to find her. This is your problem, all of you. You did this, you clean it up. We can’t afford to have another villain running around Star City at a time like this.”

“I know,” Felicity replied. “I’m trying to look for anything resembling the power she told Thea and Nyssa about, but I can’t really find anything. She’s gone under the radar.”

“Which is a problem,” Nyssa agreed. “When are your friends supposed to be arriving?”

“Half an hour,” Felicity said distractedly.

“Then you have half an hour to try and find a place for us to start looking.”

Half an hour came and went, with Felicity having little to no luck looking for any sign of the missing Laurel lookalike. With a groan, she closed all her extra tabs, and spun her chair around to see the rest of them leaning against the other side of the computer lab. “Sorry, guys. I only have an approximate location and that is that she is not in Star City.”

“The only thing you’re sure of is she’s not here?” Thea’s eyes widened, casting a look over at her brother, who had moved over to clean his bow. “That’s just great. Ollie is gonna kill us.”

“What about Central City?” Nyssa asked.

“Nope,” Felicity shook her head. “She would have been seen by The Flash as soon as she arrived.”

“That’s just great,” Thea repeated, sighing.

A beep from the computers alerted the three of them to the fact that someone was approaching the elevator, and so with a quick warning to Oliver, Nyssa and Thea moved to stand in front of Felicity, waiting to see who it was.

When the door opened, the familiar faces of Iris and Caitlin popped out, their greetings dying on their lips as they instead looked at the people waiting for them in confusion. Oliver, being the only one with a weapon immediately at hand, had drawn and aimed his bow directly at the door just in case, and Nyssa and Thea looked like they were about to pounce.

“What’s…going on?” Iris smiled nervously, her brow furrowing as she stared at them all.

“Iris!” Felicity and Thea exclaimed with relief, jumping down and throwing their arms around her.

Iris’s eyes widened, and she stared at Caitlin while her hands came up to pat them them both on the back in reassurance. “Yes?”

“We thought you were dead,” Nyssa put it bluntly, her posture relaxing as she cast her gaze quickly over Caitlin and her. “Dinah Lance told us she had caused your death. She left town because of it.”

Iris looked at Caitlin, who shrugged, and Iris sighed. “That would be our fault. But in my defence, I wanted to see her prove herself to be a hero instead of letting Barry come in here and lock her up. Which is what he is going to do now that she failed that test.”

Iris and Caitlin very quickly explained the situation they had set up, and the choice Dinah had made in the final moment to save herself from ‘Killer Frost’. Realisation dawned on each of their faces as they finally understood, and were relieved to see that the real Killer Frost had been nowhere near Iris.

“So you did it because Barry wants to bring her in?” Thea asked them.

Iris nodded. “Cisco and Wells do too… even Caitlin,” She looked at the brunette for a moment before back at the others. “I couldn’t let Dinah rot in the Pipeline if there really was a chance she’d changed based on what I’d seen.”

“Do you really believe she has changed, Iris?” Nyssa asked, her expression calculating. “You said that you met her _once_. I’d be more inclined to agree with your friends if that is the case.”

“You _have_ spent more time with her than I have,” Iris raised an eyebrow, "but are you telling me you saw _nothing_ in her that would show she is more than just a villain? Today she screwed up, but…”

“We’ve all screwed up,” Thea ended, looking at each of them in turn. “Some of us more than others.”

“You have to understand, we gave her a very good opportunity to protect Iris and get her out of there,” Caitlin shrugged. “She didn’t take it.”

“She failed. She did _everything_ wrong?” Thea asked, her eyebrows pushing together. “It just doesn’t make sense. I talked to her the other night, she seemed to be so dedicated to her promise to Laurel, I… I don’t understand.”

“I agreed with you, Thea,” Iris wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “I wanted to believe she wasn’t entirely evil, too.” Iris shook her head, thinking over it all. “I think we just pushed her too hard.”

“I suppose she didn’t do _everything_ wrong,” Caitlin finally said, pursing her lips. “She protected Iris right up until the moment she thought there was no escape at all. She chose to jump through that opening she created instead of facing the chance that I—well, Killer Frost—would be taking her back to Zoom.”

“Zoom. That’s it!” Nyssa looked up quickly, staring at each of them in turn. “Remember how panicked she was? I think it’s more than just the fact she broke her promise to Laurel. She seemed terrified about the fact that if Killer Frost found her then she would be taken back to Zoom. It all goes back to him.”

“She doesn’t want to go back to him, you’re right,” Thea agreed easily. “That has to be proof enough that some change has happened! She’s just scared. Surely we can forgive her for something like that? Right?”

“Maybe…” Iris murmured, looking between them. “Care to tell me what you mean?”

“Dinah fled Central City because she wanted to escape from Zoom,” Nyssa explained. “I don’t know any detail, but I know that much. It was clear that while she was freaking out about letting Iris die, she was more afraid of what would happen as a result. She also made that promise to Laurel when she finally got here and realised she couldn’t go back to her old life. I think she believes in that promise, but I just think she’s more afraid of being taken back to Zoom.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty scary,” Caitlin agreed, sighing. “I wouldn’t want to be under his control, that’s for sure.”

“I don’t trust Dinah, but I think that if she reacted in the way she did when you were right there, Caitlin, and chose to save herself... We know it was self preservation, she told us that much. It definitely was not a good decision, but it’s something that we could work on with her. She needs to feel safe if she is going to fully reform, otherwise there will always be this instinct in her to save herself instead of the people around her,” Nyssa leant back against the computer lab, staring at Thea. “Would you agree?”

“Of course,” Thea said, breathing out a shaky breath as she thought about it. “You know how much I’ve struggled keeping myself under control since going into the Lazarus Pit. I’ve killed many times before—god, I even killed _Sara,_ ” she closed her eyes, trying to ignore the hot flashes of anger she felt when she remembered how she had been used to do that. “I can definitely forgive her. The woman I spoke to that night in Laurel’s apartment… I believe in that person I saw. She told us before she left that she was doing it to save herself, and I believe that, but I agree, Nyssa— I think we can help her break out of that mindset. She's clearly open to change if she made the promise in the first place and I don't think she can simply go back to her old life.”

“You’re too trusting, Thea,” Oliver finally spoke up, putting his bow down from where he’d been standing and stalking over to join the group. “Laurel would never have done something like this. That girl is the total opposite of her. She put Iris’s life at risk—can you imagine what Barry would have done to me if he had found out that Iris died in my city?”

“I’m sorry, Oliver,” Iris frowned. “I know it seems like it was a little bit much but I really wanted to see—“

“Oh no, I think it was an excellent plan, Iris,” Oliver shook his head. “It exposed Dinah for who she really is—a villain. Someone who needs to be locked away. We need to be focused on stopping Darhk, not on _her_ supposed reformation.”

There was silence for a few moments after he said this, and he sighed. “I’m going to go and train. Just...” he gestured to the computer, with Felicity’s tracking program trying to find a more specific place to look for the missing woman. "Clean it up."

“I hate to agree with Oliver but even if we do find her,” Nyssa sighed after he walked off to the salmon ladder, “there’s a very real chance that she’s simply going to attack us. Just because we’ve realised it _all_ goes back to Zoom doesn’t mean she’s not going to revert anyway.”

“We can put her down if it comes to that. I’ll take tranq arrows, you should too,” Thea walked over to the costume displays and pulled hers down, quickly slipping it on. “I don’t like the fact that we just let her run off. You would never have let that happen to me, so… I want to find her. Anyway, I think I can talk her down if she has changed—she told me that I reminded her of someone she once knew. I could probably get through to her the most out of anyone here.”

“What do you think about this, Iris? Caitlin?” Felicity murmured the question to the two women, who were watching Thea and Nyssa suit up and gather their weapons silently.

“I think that if you guys think there’s a chance that she may still be saved that we should take it,” Iris looked down, before looking over at Caitlin. “I know I told Barry that he could go and find her, but… I don’t know Dinah. If she told Nyssa and Thea about Zoom or they were able to tell how scared she was of him, then…”

“I _think_ I agree with you. Either way, once she’s found, if she does attack them and can’t be stopped then we’ll have a definitive answer,” Caitlin rubbed her temples, leaning forward over the computers next to Felicity. “As long as they’re careful…”

“Yeah,” Felicity agreed, as Nyssa and Thea walked back up onto the computer station. “As long as they’re careful.”

“We’ll be careful, Felicity,” Nyssa replied, tightening her quiver across her chest. “Either way, we need to look for her first.”

Felicity nodded, and spun around to look at the screen, adjusting her glasses as she did so. “Well, unfortunately I still don’t really have any definitive places to look, but I can tell you she’s not anywhere to the south or east. Just pick a route out of the city going north or west and follow it… hopefully you’ll come across her. That’s really all I can give you, I’m sorry.”

“It’s better than before,” Thea looked over her shoulder at the screen, which had big red crosses over various parts of the map. “Hopefully this will cut down our search time.”

“It should, by half,” Felicity nodded, leaning back and looking up at her friend. “Good luck?”

“Thanks,” Thea sighed. “This is terrible. I feel terrible.”

“It’s not your fault, Dinah still has some apologising to do, after all,” Iris looked at her encouragingly. “Just find her, and I’ll be here with Felicity and Caitlin hoping that the promise she made to Laurel means more to her once she knows Zoom is not actively searching for her himself.”

“It will. It has to,” Thea bit down on her lower lip. “I’m just not sure what state she’ll be in once we find her.”

Oliver listened as Nyssa and Thea said goodbye to the other girls and left the Cave to go looking for her. He didn’t like that they were going off by themselves, but John was with his daughter tonight and he didn’t want to interrupt that. He knew that he so rarely got that time off.

“Oliver?” Felicity asked, coming over to look up at him hanging from the salmon ladder.

Letting go of the bar and dropping to the ground solidly, he looked at her and then over at Iris and Caitlin who were also watching. “Yes?”

“Is it okay if we head out for lunch? There’s not really anything I can do from here without knowing where Dinah is and I’d rather be distracted instead of sitting still,” she said, and then sighed. “Hopefully they can find her.”

Oliver nodded. “Sure. I'll probably head out in a bit, too."

“Do you want to come too, Oliver?” Iris asked, leaning against the computers and looking at him encouragingly.

“No, it’s okay,” Oliver shook his head, and then looked over at his bow which was still sitting on the table he had left it on. “I’ll just… keep myself busy while I wait for them to check in and then leave.”

“Okay,” Felicity smiled at her friends, and the three of them left together, chattering amongst themselves.

Oliver stayed still for a moment, staring at the elevator and then back at his bow. With a long sigh, he walked over to it and swung his quiver over his shoulders, heading over to the training area where the targets were lined up. Drawing an arrow, he aimed and let loose three arrows in quick succession, each one hitting their targets perfectly. Truth be told, he didn’t really need to practice. He was more trying to get his mind off of what Thea and Nyssa were doing.

Pursing his lips, he looked over his shoulder at the computer station, with the nearest monitor he could see still displaying the map the others had just been looking at. He hated the fact that he was interested in finding out where Dinah Lance had disappeared off to, because it wasn’t his problem. He should be focused on campaigning, on stopping Darhk, on _anything_ else but on Laurel’s doppelgänger. 

He stood in the silence of the Cave for a long while, conflicted. His hand which was not holding his bow fiddled against his leg and before he could stop himself, his gaze drifted over to the mannequins. Walking over to them uncertainly, he stopped directly before the Black Canary, staring up at the black mask wistfully. _Laurel._ He swallowed, willing himself to keep it together. Dinah wasn’t Laurel, he knew that. He had forced himself to see only the differences between them the night she was in the Cave with them all. But he couldn’t just leave her out there by herself, it wasn’t right. He had no idea what she was doing, and he didn’t want the others getting hurt because of that or his stubbornness in refusing to help.

His mind made up, he quickly pulled down and changed into his Green Arrow costume. The computers displaying the map Felicity had tried to narrow down really didn’t show much, and he tried to think of a place to look for her. Nyssa and Thea had gone north and west, but that just wasn’t specific enough for him.

_Where would Laurel have gone?_ He wondered, trying to think of what cities lay in those directions. To the north, if you kept going, you would reach Seattle. That seemed a likely destination, because any of the other close cities seemed too small. If she really wanted to disappear, that would be the place to do it. Not to mention the fact that Queen Consolidated once had a branch in Seattle… but he doubted that would be the reason why Dinah would head in that direction.

_I hope I’m right about this,_ he thought, as he left the Cave and slipped out back to where he kept his motorbike. He didn’t know what he was going to do once he found her, but if he knew Laurel, he knew that heading to Seattle would make the most logical sense. He just had to remember that Dinah wasn’t Laurel once he found her.

* * *

The road he ended up on to Seattle was long and straight and relatively busy. None of the cars he weaved his bike around had recognised him, thankfully, but he probably shouldn’t have done this in broad daylight. The arrows on his back were a clear giveaway that he wasn’t a normal civilian… he hoped Nyssa and Thea were doing okay. 

Hours passed as he continued along the motorway. It was late afternoon by the time the signs started to announce that Seattle was getting closer, and his heart filled with dread. He did not know how he was going to react when he saw her. He didn’t know if she would be completely evil again and would attack him, or if he should attack her…

 _Perfect,_ Oliver thought with a groan, his motorbike skidding to a sudden stop as he swerved to avoid any of the debris he had suddenly come across. There were various workers present moving to clean it up, and as he stopped, they all looked up and gaped at him openly. He ignored them,  instead turning his head to look behind him. Traffic was being diverted across the grassy verge in the middle of the motorway to get around the catastrophe in front of him. He almost spun around to follow them, but a glint on the side of the road caught his attention. Tilting his head, he noticed that a car had crashed just off the road. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, he swung off his bike and picked his bow up. It could just be anything, he knew, but he could feel something pulling him towards the car. It was too suspicious. Everybody else was leaving it alone, but he knew to trust his gut. _Dinah…?_ He wondered.

Placing a hand on the totalled car’s roof once he got to it, he peered inside, almost expecting to see her in it. He had no way of knowing it was really her car, and maybe she had made it to Seattle, but maybe not. Looking uphill and into the trees next to the road, his eyes swept across it, looking for anything out of place. He wasn’t sure, but he could swear that he could feel somebody watching him.

Walking resolutely uphill, he drew an arrow and strung his bow, holding it relaxed in his hand, waiting to see if he would be jumped. If Dinah were to attack him, he would be ready. The sounds from the motorway just behind him didn’t help as it made it hard to listen for anybody approaching, so he kept slowly turning, not wanting to be caught by surprise.

He didn’t have to walk far. Only a few metres up past the treeline, he found her jacket, lying against the trunk of a tree. She’d been wearing it the night before, he’d noticed, so he knew he was right to trust his gut. She was here.

“Dinah?” He called out warningly, stringing his bow completely, listening as hard as he could for her. His heart started to beat faster, filled with the anticipation of the confrontation.

“Ollie?” He heard a quiet voice reply, and he turned around to see Dinah watching him in shock, her arm up against a tree, pausing before walking into the small clearing.

He tightened his hand over his bow as he drew her appearance in, trying to ignore the way that voice sounded saying his name. Oliver really didn’t know what to say to the nickname—it was what Laurel used to call him all the time…he hadn’t thought about it in a while. It was one thing to hear his sister saying it, and another for  _h_ _er_ to be. He stared at her silently for a moment, before looking around into the woods cautiously. Old habits died hard. He couldn’t be sure this wasn’t a trap, as for all he knew she had called Zoom and personally arranged for the Green Arrow’s beheading to happen right then and there.

Dinah watched him look around warily, which caused her own expression to lose the brief confusion it had had. Looking back at her, he watched as an odd darkness came over her face when she realised why he was acting this way.

“You’re here to fight me,” she murmured, dropping her hand from the tree and clenching her fists by her side, slowly drawing them up in defence.

“Yes,” he agreed, although he wasn’t entirely sure about it. He truly hadn’t known what he was going to do when he saw her, but if she wanted to fight, he wasn’t about to stop it. She was dangerous. She wasn’t Laurel. She had to be brought in. “I knew I was right about you.”

Dinah’s eyes flashed angrily. “You don’t know a thing about me.”

“I know you broke your promise to Laurel the moment it got to be too much for you,” he retorted. “I knew you hadn’t changed, not really.”

Dinah’s expression faltered, and for a moment he thought he saw a flicker of pain in her eyes. She looked at him for a moment, before staring at his bow. There were only a few metres between them, and he knew he wouldn’t miss if he let the arrow go.

“Don’t make me do it,” Oliver said quietly, watching as she realised the same thing.

She smirked at him suddenly, flexing her fingers by her side. “Try it,” she said, taunting him. “I dare you.”

“It’s a tranq arrow. It’ll knock you out and I'll take you back to Star City so we can figure out what to do with you,” he explained. She was standing so close—point blank. He wouldn’t miss.

Dinah nodded. “Seems only fair."

Oliver frowned, but not wanting to let her get the drop on him, released his hand and let the arrow fly. With lightning fast precision, however, Dinah's hands flew up and caught it before it hit her. It was a move he had seen only a few highly trained individuals pull off before, and he had had no idea she would know a move like that. His bow arm lowered as they stared at each other, his mouth falling open in surprise.

Dinah let the arrow between her hands drop to the forest floor after a moment, rolling her shoulders and not letting her gaze drop from his. “If that’s the way it’s gonna be…” She murmured, planting her feet firmly on the ground, before opening her mouth and screaming at him. 

The force of the scream knocked him off his feet and sent him flying back, his momentum being stopped when he hit the nearest tree. His back landed against it, and he fell to the floor. He barely had time to register the fact that her scream was real, not engineered from a collar, because Dinah was advancing on him. 

He instantly leapt to his feet and dropped  his bow, knowing it would only hinder him, and raised his forearms to block her first, solid punch. He leant back, taking the brunt of it, but _boy_ did he feel it. In the second it took for her to pull back, he moved his arms so one would block any oncoming attacks while the other could try and grab her. Dinah wasn’t going easy on him, and as Laurel had never sparred with him in this way he couldn’t believe how strong she was. Any attempts he made to grab her arms were easily dodged by her, and with a fast sweeping kick she was able to upset his footing. _She's fast,_ Oliver thought, his heart beating out of his chest as he realised she was controlling the pace of this dance. After one particularly hard punch straight to his chest, managing to get behind his arms, he also realised she wasn’t holding anything back. Whatever was motivating her in this moment, it was abundantly clear that she really did not want to go back with him.

Dinah’s expression was fierce, her mouth open in a snarl, as she punched and clawed him mercilessly, his armour being the only thing protecting him from most of the force of her attacks. For every punch he landed, she landed two more. He found that they could read each other pretty well as they got more into it, the dance becoming deadlier as they worked out where each other’s weak points were.

“You don’t know what evil is!” Dinah snarled, sounding breathless, her arms coming up to block one of his fists. _“I’m bad!”_

Oliver took the moment her right arm faltered to redirect the force of her next hit against her, spinning her and pushing her back against a tree, which amazingly she let him do. His eyebrows drew together, trying to work out what she was doing even as he let her struggle out of his grasp. 

“Don't hold back!” She yelled at him, her next punch coming quickly but still easy for him to deflect. “I’m bad!”

The realisation dawned on him as he realised what she wanted him to do. Even though she had started out with the upper hand, she was slowly letting him gain more and more control. He knew she was letting him—the skills she had displayed were not something he could believe she would simply forget in the heat of their struggle. She wanted him to beat her—to kill her? “No,” Oliver responded, ducking under and grabbing her forearms when she threw her next punch. “I know what you want, Dinah. I’m not gonna do it.”

Dinah looked up at the sky and screamed again, forcing Oliver to drop his hands from her so he could cover his ears from the terrible sound. She took that moment to push him back against a tree, her expression falling further and further until it looked like she was simply trying to hold in tears while she fought him. “I’m evil, Oliver! I’m bad! Do you hear me? I’m bad!” She yelled, throwing punches, and just like that Oliver lost all the will to fight.

His arms came up to block her punches as they got weaker and weaker, and he watched as the tears spilled over her eyes, until she hit him one last time and ended up crying against him, her fists clenched against his chest. “Please just do it, Ollie. Take me away. I’m bad. I’m bad!”

Oliver’s arms came up to stop her from moving, allowing her that moment to collect herself against him. Something in him snapped the moment she started crying and he understood all of her pain. He _got_ it. “It’s okay,” he said quietly, giving her some time to breathe. His muscles ached, but it was nothing he wouldn’t recover from. He still needed to take her back to Star City, but now he didn’t want to take her back to the Cave. He didn’t want to tell the others he had found her, not until he’d had a chance to sort out what to do with her himself. He knew the others couldn’t have seen this side of her, and while they may believe that she was changing, they didn't have the definite proof he had now.

“Why aren’t you fighting me?” Dinah asked quietly against him, her eyes closing as more tears ran silently down her mascara-streaked face, before stepping back when she realised with a start that she was basically letting herself be held by him.

Oliver considered her question as he tried to get his breathing under control. He couldn’t explain his reaction to what she had just done, but watching a woman who looked exactly like Laurel break down like that was hell. She didn’t need to know that, of course, so he walked over and picked up his bow, thinking about what to say instead. “I’m not going to kill you, or take you to Zoom, or do anything that could in any way lead to your death.”

“I don’t want that,” Dinah muttered, shaking her head in disagreement.

“No?” He raised an eyebrow, looking at her carefully. “You’re terrified, I can tell that much. You don’t know what to do with yourself now that you aren’t following the orders of a supervillain, and you feel like you’ve failed your promise to be the Black Canary for Laurel, which means all you’re left with is your pain.”

Dinah swallowed, her eyes darting away from his, not liking the fact that he understood her. "What makes you think I'm in pain?"

"Aside from the fact you just cried against me?" Oliver half-smirked at her, and she let out a soft chuckle. "Your eyes. The way you fought. I've  _felt_ that. I get it," he shook his head, closing his eyes as the memories washed over him. "I know how you feel and I'm not gonna let you destroy yourself because you don't think you can face it."

"You just told me that you wanted to stop me. You've been telling me that ever since you met me, and today of all days would be the perfect time to follow through with it," she said, sounding disappointed. "You know what I did."

"Yes," he agreed. "We can deal with it in Star City. Come back there with me," he gestured down to the motorway. "I don't want to force you to come with me, but what else are you going to do?"

Dinah pursed her lips, looking down for a moment, before back at him. Now that they weren't fighting, she realised how painful it was to be standing across from the man who looked exactly like her Oliver. "I just... I'm not going back to Zoom. You have to promise me that."

"I promise." He said, sounding utterly genuine. Dinah believed him. She also knew there was something he wasn't telling her, but she knew it wasn't bad or else she would be refusing to go with him. Or maybe she was so exhausted she didn't care anymore.

As they walked down the slope to where Oliver's motorbike was, Dinah thought back to her promise to Laurel. She wouldn't destroy the Black Canary name, she had promised, to honour her. She didn't know how Oliver would react once she told him about it now that he had seen how messed up she was, she thought, as she wiped her eyes, but she hoped he could at least give her some advice on what to do as she felt truly lost.

Dinah watched him sit astride his motorbike, and a sense of déjà vu washed over her. It was only made worse when Oliver handed her the spare helmet from the cavity under the seat, as the movement was all too familiar.

She couldn’t really explain why she was letting him take her back to Star City, but in her weakness, she wanted something familiar. Star City, Ollie… riding on a motorbike together, any of it, all of it.

_He’s not Ollie,_ her brain reminded her. _He’s not_ your _Ollie._

Dinah shook her long hair over her shoulders and put the helmet on, before moving to sit behind him, trying to ignore the position. Because he _wasn’t_ Ollie, and the less she thought of him as that, the better for her it would be. She wasn’t telling him she should drive like she normally would have, because that wasn’t _their_ thing. It was only when she realised she would have to wrap her arms around him once they started to move that her heart fluttered nervously.

Hesitantly, her clenched fists came to rest against his stomach. She felt him shift under her fingers as they settled together, trying to find a comfortable position. Everything about it was incredibly weird and too real, and she suddenly wanted to get as far away from him as she could. But she couldn’t. Holding onto him, she turned her head and leaned against his back, sighing. She didn’t know what would happen when they got back to Star City, but she really hoped they got back soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! I know, I know it's been forever. I can't even bring myself to look at the reviews for the last chapter because I know they're all going to be asking when I'm going to update. It's the end of the semester and I really should be studying for exams but I have honestly had a good majority of this written since I posted the last chapter, so I have been forcing myself to tie it all together instead of just leaving parts of it written. I hope you all liked it and that it was worth the wait. This one especially goes out to any Angel fans out there ;)


	8. Bar Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that forces men  
> to leap overboard in squadrons  
> even though they see the beached skulls

Four goddamn hours later, the sun was sinking in the sky, and it was over. _Thank god,_ Dinah thought, relieved, looking warily up at the building Oliver had pulled the bike up to. They hadn’t spoken the entire time, of course, but being pressed up that close against him was strange and more difficult than she had been anticipating. He just—he _looked_ like him. He felt like him. It was so _easy_ for her to close her eyes and pretend she was back on her Earth, with her Ollie, riding with the wind.

“We have to go through the back entrance,” Oliver murmured to her, breaking her out of her sad thoughts. She nodded against his back, absentmindedly drawing her hands up his sides, and felt a small shudder run through him. The two of them got off the bike and when Dinah reached up to pull her helmet off, Oliver shook his head quickly at her.

Looking at him confusedly, Oliver gestured to the security cameras that Dinah could just make out along the street. She trusted that they were out of range of them, but with that one gesture she knew that he also meant other people could be around. He had stashed his arrows and bow in the cavity beneath the motorbike’s seat already, which had to be because of these cameras, too. Dinah wondered why he hadn’t just taken her back to the Arrow Cave to save all this trouble, but followed after him quietly as he turned and walked down an alley that she assumed would take them to the back of the building.

“Where are we?” Dinah asked, as they approached the back entrance.

“My home,” Oliver replied tersely, looking around quickly before opening and ushering her through the door ahead of him.

Dinah frowned at that. She opened her mouth, about to ask him what happened to the Queen mansion—as she assumed that that had to exist here, too—but closed it when she felt the sudden tension emanating from Oliver. Clearly, he wasn’t about to explain anything she believed she knew about him.

 _He’s not Oliver,_ she reminded herself, trailing along behind him as he marched down the hall to the elevators, eager, for a moment, to put some distance between them.

“We look like we’re about to rob the place,” Dinah mumbled, and heard a short chuckle from Oliver in response.

“It’s just in case anybody pays extra attention to the security footage,” Oliver replied as she came to stand next to him. “I don’t want to have to explain to people why the Green Arrow is entering Oliver Queen’s apartment.”

Dinah shrugged. “Say you’re working together. People like to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing. I’ve seen it before. You could play it off.”

“I know, and I have done that before,” Oliver said. “But there are still some people who like to dig a bit too close to the truth, and I don’t want my secret being revealed to any more people than it already has.”

“I understand,” Dinah said softly, as the elevator dinged and they got out. Curious, Dinah watched Oliver walk over and unlock the front door to his apartment. She could see this was familiar to him, in a way that living somewhere for a while could only be, so whatever had happened to the Queen mansion must have happened a while ago.

His apartment was large and very modern, with a brown colour to the walls and floors that reminded her of the mansion. She wondered if that was why he’d chosen it, to make it seem more like his own place.

Oliver reached up and took his helmet off now that they were safely inside, and Dinah followed suit, shaking her long hair free and running a hand through it, suddenly self-conscious. She knew she must look a mess, and pursed her lips, looking over to Oliver to ask him if she could shower, when she noticed that he was staring at her. Raising an eyebrow, Dinah looked back at him questioningly, and felt her heart beating faster. He was watching her intently, a strange look on his face—something which was twisting her stomach and causing her to breathe rapidly.

 _Not him, not him, he’s not him,_ she repeated to herself. She cleared her throat, looking away to break eye contact, but not before she saw a faint pink stain his ears and cheeks. _God, help me,_ Dinah thought.

“Uh,” Oliver said, clearing his throat and looking around. “The downstairs bathroom’s in there,” he swallowed, looking back at her and pointing at a door to her right. “If you want, you can go and freshen up. I’ll find you a change of clothes.”

Dinah turned and looked in the direction he was pointing briefly, then back at him, feeling the tension building more and more between them. “Okay,” she breathed, thinking about how good it would be to be alone for a moment. _Not alone,_ she thought. _Away from him._

“Um,” he scratched the back of his head quickly, trying to find something to say. “Otherwise I guess I’ll make us dinner.”

“You can cook?” Dinah raised an eyebrow, now looking at him amusedly. “That’s a surprise.”

“You forget I lived on an island by myself for five years,” he rolled his eyes, his mouth twitching, as if he were trying to stop himself from smiling.

“Yeah sure, but you were cooking rabbits and other small animals, right?” Dinah said, a small chuckle escaping her lips. “I worry for us this evening.”

“Trust me, I’ll make it work,” he grinned, his attempts to stop himself failing, and looked down to hide it from her.

Once Dinah was in the shower, scrubbing away the grime from the past few days, she felt another strange sense of déjà vu. This was all so familiar to her in a way that she couldn’t explain to him, because she didn’t know if he had had the same relationship with Laurel that she had had with her Oliver. They didn’t know each other, not like that, yet she still felt as though they did—because of _him,_ and because he looked like him she felt like he knew the others, all the people she’d tried to leave behind. But he couldn’t know them. How could he?

She leant her head against the marble tile of the shower, feeling the water fall around her, remembering.

A while later, Dinah walked out of the bathroom in a bathrobe looking and feeling clean, all traces of dirt and sweat gone, her wet hair dripping down her back. Oliver was waiting for her, having changed into clean clothes, and handed her a bundle of clothes. “Put these on. They’re…left over. From when Laurel was last here with Thea.”

Dinah took them, looking down at the clothes of her doppelgänger; a pair of grey jeans and a soft grey leopard print sweater. She rubbed her thumb over them, feeling the same odd feeling she felt in Laurel’s apartment when she was surrounded by her things. “Where is Thea?” Dinah looked up at Oliver. “Where are the others?”

“I have them out looking for you,” Oliver stated, and then with a bit of hesitation added, “They don’t know that I also went to look for you.”

Dinah tilted her head, looking at him in both surprise and confusion. “You’re not going to tell them that you found me?”

“No. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because you look like you need a break. But more importantly, you and I need to talk.”

* * *

 They ate the dinner Oliver had prepared together at the dining table in silence, with Dinah staring out the window at the blue of twilight over the city. Oliver kept sneaking glances at her without really meaning to—it was strange for him to have her in his apartment. Not because of the fact that he had hated her so very recently, but because she looked like Laurel.

Laurel hadn’t been in this new apartment many times, but he still remembered the last time she had been there. He’d clung to such memories after she’d died, willing himself not to forget anything about her. She wasn’t there for him, of course—she had been with Thea—but he could still see her smiling, on the couch with his little sister, the fire from the fireplace casting a soft glow over her face as the two of them had talked. Feeling utterly wistful, he cleared his throat, realising he was staring at Dinah again.

She had to notice he was looking. How couldn’t she? He wasn’t hiding it very well. _She’s just…so beautiful,_ he thought, surprising himself. _But of course she’s beautiful. She looks like Laurel._

Oliver’s phone buzzed, and he looked down at it. It was a text from Thea, saying that she, Nyssa and John were having no luck tracking Dinah down and wouldn’t be back in the city for a couple of days. Feeling slightly guilty, Oliver turned off his phone. He would deal with them later. His perspective on this whole situation had changed so drastically after the forest and he didn’t know how to explain that to them just yet.

He looked up and found Dinah pursing her lips, peering down at his phone.

“How long are you planning on keeping me a secret?” Dinah asked, setting her cutlery down and staring intently at him.

“No more than a few days,” Oliver sighed. “They’re going to be angry with me for keeping this from them.”

Dinah looked at him like this was the most obvious thing in the world. “Yeah, so tell them now. They should know I’m here,” she rebuked, narrowing her eyes slightly at him before looking away. “I don’t deserve to be protected after what I did.”

More guilt. Oliver ran a hand over his stubble, searching for words while leaning heavily against his arms on the table. “Dinah…” he sighed again, knowing he should come clean about something. “Iris West is alive.”

Dinah looked back at him sharply, her green eyes searching his for any hint of a lie. “Excuse me?”

“You didn’t send her to her death,” Oliver said gently. “She’s alive.”

Dinah leant back in her chair, her mouth falling open, an expression of surprise and hurt crossing her face. “She’s alive?” Her voice was small and quiet. “How…?”

“The whole thing was a ruse, Dinah. You were being played. Tested.”

“Tested,” Dinah repeated. “But Killer Frost was there?”

“She was played by this Earth’s Caitlin Snow,” Oliver murmured, watching this sink in to Dinah. “It was all a test.”

“So Zoom doesn’t even know I’m here,” Dinah frowned. “Why would you let me believe I was being hunted by him—that I had let Iris die?”

“You were so upset in the forest, Dinah,” Oliver said, thinking back to how she had crumbled right before his eyes. “I was far more focused on helping you.”

“You know what would have helped with that _immensely?_ Letting me know the woman I thought was dead wasn’t,” she said, pushing back from the table and stalking over to the door that led to the balcony. Oliver watched as she stepped outside and placed her hands over the railing, the set of her shoulders telling him she was still very upset about this.

Following her outside quietly, he stood next to her, copying her pose, staring out at the lights of the city while waiting for her to speak.

“I can’t have any more deaths on my conscience, Ollie. Not after what I promised to Laurel, not after what I realised within myself. I was devastated when I realised that I hadn’t changed as much as I thought I had, and yet you’re telling me that she’s alive, so that pain doesn’t matter,” Dinah whispered, just loud enough for him to hear. “Why would Iris do this?”

Oliver tapped his hand against the railing. “She’s friends with The Flash, Dinah. She said that she wanted to see if you could be trusted. She believed in you, and evidently nobody else in her team did.”

Dinah nodded. “And I failed her test miserably.”

“Yes.”

“Which means The Flash is coming after me now.”

“I believe so,” Oliver looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Fantastic,” Dinah mumbled. “He’ll take me back to Central City…back to where Zoom is…” she shivered.

Oliver turned to look at her fully, leaning his arm against the railing, unable to believe what he was about to say. “Look… I’m friends with The Flash too. I could…tell him…”

Dinah had turned to stare at him too, a curious look on her face. “Tell him what?”

“To leave you alone,” Oliver finished. “I could tell him I’m dealing with you. I know him. He’d understand, given how you look like Laurel.”

She looked at him incredulously. “And why on earth would you do that for me, Oliver?”

He shrugged. “I _saw_ how you were in the forest, Dinah. I understand how you’re feeling. Plus, I’d been treating you pretty badly up until then. I just didn’t want to believe that you were reforming—I was focusing on all the bad things that separated you from Laurel.”

Dinah scoffed. “Yeah, well. I deserve it.”

“No, you don’t,” Oliver disagreed. “Yesterday I would have said you did, but now…”

“I made that much of an impression on you?” Dinah closed her eyes, a small smile hinting at her lips. “While fighting and crying against you?”

“You did,” Oliver said firmly. “I get your pain, Dinah. I know you want to change. I just hadn’t realised how similar we were until that moment. You wanted to leave behind your past, and I wasn’t letting you do that.”

Dinah blinked, surprised. “What makes you think we’re so similar?”

“Because I used to kill people, too,” Oliver muttered, regret flooding through him. “I’m not proud of my past, either.”

Dinah raised an eyebrow, her voice devoid of any judgment. “Even if you were doing that, I doubt you were branded as a villain.”

“Well, no, not on the whole, but I know some people saw me that way. I was ignoring everything about the law—a literal judge, jury and executioner.” He paused. “I finally realised that that wasn’t who I wanted to be to help my city. I had help to realise that, and I know it was the right thing to do.”

“I didn’t really have anybody help me realise I want to change, Ollie,” Dinah said. “Just the memory of the people on my Earth.”

“Your Oliver?” He guessed. She looked at him, and he smiled softly. “You keep calling me Ollie. I know you must have known me over there.”

She bit down on her lower lip, and nodded. “I knew him. Like you knew your Laurel, I’m guessing. That’s why you’ve been so hostile towards me.”

He moved slightly closer to her, more understanding and empathy for this woman washing over him. “See? We are more alike than you think.”

Dinah stared up at him, a soft smile on her face, too. “We’re pretty messed up, aren’t we?”

“Yes,” he agreed. “And I will help you.” Dinah closed her eyes at that, already shaking her head, but he continued. “I had help, I have had more second chances than I deserve, and I believe you when you say you want to change. I believe you.”

Dinah opened her eyes and looked at him carefully. “Thank you,” she said quietly, touched. “I do want to prove I can change.”

“You can, if your promise to Laurel is anything to be believed,” Oliver said, walking back inside, with Dinah following him. “What exactly did you promise to her?”

“That I would honour her memory and take up the mantle of the Black Canary,” Dinah said. “But then the thing with Iris happened, and all that belief in myself I had just left me.”

“That was a test,” Oliver reminded her.

“Even so, it shows that in a _real_ situation I wouldn’t have the strength or the courage to stand and fight; to risk the chance that I may be taken back to Zoom,” Dinah ran a hand over her face, sinking onto one of the leather couches by the fireplace. “I don’t know if I can do it. Even if I can change, that fear of Zoom will always be there.”

“Listen to me, Dinah. You can’t compare yourself to Laurel if we are going to do this. You are similar to her, but you are your own person. If you want to be the Black Canary, you can’t be a carbon copy of her.”

“Isn’t that the only way to go about this?” Dinah leant her arm against the couch. “I want to be good again.”

“You can be good again by being yourself, you don’t have to turn into Laurel to do that.”

Dinah turned and stared into the fireplace, the embers casting a familiar soft glow over her face that made Oliver start. “I don’t know who I am anymore,” she whispered. “I can only be her if I’m going to do this.”

Oliver stared at her, then over at the clock on the wall. It was 10:00. Normally, he’d be heading down to the Cave and suiting up to head out on patrol, but they’d hit a road block in terms of trying to find out more about the Ghosts and about Darhk. He knew Felicity would message him if anything came up, and if it were that bad, the others would come back to the city. He could afford one night off, he reasoned with himself.

“Alright, come on,” Oliver said with a quick nod. “We’re going out.”

Dinah looked up at him, startled. “On patrol?”

“No,” Oliver shook his head, then smiled. “To a bar.”

* * *

“We’ll _never_ get in dressed like this,” Dinah muttered, her arms crossed over her chest, still wearing the grey leopard sweater and grey jeans Oliver had given her.

“Sure we will,” Oliver replied smoothly. “I’m Oliver Queen.”

Dinah rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face. It such an Ollie thing to say.

“Truth be told, I probably shouldn’t be bringing you here, anyway,” Oliver said. “We’re in a part of town where it shouldn’t matter, but Laurel was the DA. There is a chance you could be spotted, especially when next to me.”

“Well this was well-thought out then, wasn’t it?”

“It’ll be fine,” Oliver said, approaching the bouncer with a flashy white smile and instantly being allowed entry. “Just keep your head down and stay close.”

Dinah shook her head, but obliged, heading into the bar after him. The music was loud, the lights were low, and what lights there were were purple and blue and flashy. It wasn’t peak hours yet, so they were easily able to make it to the farthest end of the bar, settling onto two bar stools and waiting for the bartender to approach them.

Dinah was bewildered about the whole thing, though. “Why did you bring me _here?”_

“Because you need to relax, Dinah. You need to relax, I need to get to know you so I can help you, and you know a great way to do that? Alcohol,” Oliver gestured to the bartender.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Dinah said.

“You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to,” Oliver said. “I just thought it might help us to break the ice a little bit. We both keep looking at each other in strange ways and it’s starting to irritate me.”

“You’re right about that,” Dinah murmured, placing her hands on the bar. “Alright. I'm game.”

Oliver nodded, pleased, and looked up as the bartender walked over. “Four shots of tequila and two rum and cokes, please,” he slid over some cash. “And fries,” he added as the bartender nodded and walked off.

“Fries?” Dinah raised an eyebrow.

“You’re right,” Oliver agreed with a nod. He quickly signalled the bartender back over. “Make that beer-battered fries.”

Dinah laughed, genuinely, without meaning to. This whole day had gone in a completely different direction than she had been expecting. She was at a bar with Oliver Queen, a man she had sworn when she’d met him was 100% Serious, and yet now he was showing a side she’d seen only in her Oliver. It was nice.

When their order arrived, they each picked up a shot, and clinked them together, downing both of them in quick succession. The burn of the tequila and the bitterness of the lemon chaser made her shudder, her face contorting in displeasure. It’d been a while since she’d had any alcohol, and starting the night off with tequila might not have been the best choice.

It got the job done though. Oliver wanted the two of them to relax—to face the fact that they each looked like someone they’d lost, and to move on from that. As she drank, she found it easier to look at him, and thought that he’d had the right thought with this. It was still weird, as she could tell that while they were drinking, they were not drinkers, and so needed a lot less to get a buzz going.

It was a pleasant buzz, she thought, as she picked up a fry and chewed on it thoughtfully. She could hear the loud chatter of people in the bar increase as the hours passed, but she and Oliver stayed where they were. Nobody paid any attention to her or to him, and she could tell Oliver was relieved about that—truly having forgotten for a moment that Laurel was dead and shouldn’t be at a bar with him.

“This is so weird,” Dinah giggled. The haze of the alcohol had definitely lifted her mood, but seeing the same thing happen to Oliver was bizarre. He was smiling brightly, willingly, and the sight was a strange thing from the man she’d met the other day.

He leant his arm on the bar and turned to look at her, taking her all in. “Dinah,” he said intently, his words slightly slurred. “You need to remember who you are.”

“What?” She blinked, unsure what he meant. She knew who she was. Dinah Laurel Lance.

“You need to remember who you were before you were with Zoom,” Oliver insisted, picking a fry up and pointing it at her. “Can you do that?”

A wave of sadness washed over her, made all the more intense by the alcohol in her system. “No,” she whispered, staring down at the bar. “I can’t.”

“Can’t?” Oliver popped the fry into his mouth. “Or won’t?”

“ _Can’t,_ ” Dinah repeated. “If I go back to that time…before all this… I don’t like to think about it, okay?”

“How am I supposed to help you if you’re just trying to be Laurel? That will _never_ work,” he said, and she believed him. “If you bury whatever is wrong, if you never face it, you’ll never grow or heal.”

Dinah hung her head in her hands, squeezing her eyes shut. “You’re right, I know you’re right, but… Ollie, it’s so hard to think about.”

Oliver paused, and Dinah felt his hand gently touch her shoulder. “You’ve never talked about this—whatever it is—have you?”

She shook her head.

“Well. Like I said before, if you want to heal, and move on and be the Black Canary, you’ll have to face whatever it is that’s eating you alive.”

His hand was still on her shoulder, and she raised her head and turned to look at him. He was looking at her softly, understandingly, and she knew—again—that he was right. _Damn you, Oliver Queen,_ she thought, and turned and downed the rest of her third rum and coke.

“It’s to do with Zoom, isn’t it?” Oliver surmised, watching her. “And me?”

“You?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“My other me,” he waved his hand, as if this made perfect sense. “Me from the other place.”

“My world?” Dinah said for him, and he nodded. “Yeah. It’s to do with you—the other you. And Zoom.”

“What happened?”

And just like that, with such a simple question, the memory surrounded her, choking her. The most painful thing she’d ever experienced, the thing she’d tried so hard to bury within herself, came bursting out—to Oliver.

“I didn’t save them,” she rushed the words out, her heart beating fast. “I _couldn’t_ save them.”

Oliver moved closer to her, hanging on to her every word. “Who?”

“Oliver. Mia, Connor, Roy,” she swallowed, her throat feeling too tight. “They all died because I couldn’t save them. I was told to run and—I ran. So I survived.”

“You’ll need to explain this a little better,” Oliver said gently.

And so she did. Drinking from her drink every time she lost her words, she told him what had happened to her. What Zoom had done, the thing that had destroyed her whole world and had made her so numb she lost all sense of right or wrong.

Dinah had been fighting against Zoom with her team that night. The five of them regularly went out patrolling, protecting their city, but the problem with Zoom was becoming too much for them to ignore. They knew, deep down, that they didn’t have the power to stop him—he was an insanely powerful meta-human—but they knew that they had to do something anyway.

That was what heroes did, Oliver had whispered to her as they suited up that night, taking one final moment of comfort with each other.

They all ignored the fact that every person who had gone up against Zoom had been killed or recruited, and ignored the fact that even if they managed to somehow, amazingly, defeat him that they definitely were not all walking out of there alive.

They just hadn’t expected the kind of bloodbath that greeted them. Walking into that warehouse, knowing Zoom was inside, they’d been completely alert. Mia and Roy, their red arrows pointed one way; Connor and Oliver, their green arrows pointed the other way; and Dinah, in the centre, ready to scream, to do anything, to protect them.

They were a well-oiled team. They knew how to communicate without speaking, and so when Oliver signalled to split up and come at Zoom from all sides, they’d all listened to him. They circled around the room, the giant crates providing endless hallways—Dinah remembered trying to memorise the layout so they could leave.

But Zoom knew they were there. Of course he did. He was too smart for the game they’d been trying to play, and when they emerged from the crate hallways to face him, Zoom had laughed. The grating sound had chilled Dinah to the bone, and she knew they’d made the wrong choice right then and there.

She opened her mouth to scream at Zoom, and then to scream with words to her team—to her _family_ —that they all had to leave as fast as they could. But it was too late; Dinah didn’t even have time to scream at Zoom, because as he moved over to her, Oliver shoved her behind him to protect her, placing himself directly in his path. With a flash, Zoom murdered him before her eyes, and Oliver, her beloved Oliver, crumpled to the floor at her feet.

Zoom had ripped his heart out so precisely. She had stared in awful horror as he dropped it on top of his body, her mind not connecting what she was seeing. She couldn’t process it. She opened her mouth again, to yell at Ollie to get up, but she was suddenly being grabbed from two sides, being dragged away from him. Zoom had laughed again, his black eyes watching them, and she had not understood. “Oliver!” She had screamed, and she could finally hear the choking breaths of the people half-carrying, half-dragging her.

“Dinah!” Mia had screamed, and she snapped back to attention. She stared down at Oliver, the heart on top of his body so terrible to look at, and she turned away, finally running on her own, after Mia, Roy and Connor. Oliver was dead, her mind was telling her, and she couldn’t believe it. It just didn’t make sense. In all the thoughts she’d had about that night, she’d never not seen Oliver by her side.

They’d all burst into another opening created by the crates, and Roy had grabbed several poles lying on the ground and barred the door behind them. The three of them quickly took up defensive positions, their bows aimed straight at the door, while they yelled at each other, trying to come up with a strategy in their panic.

Dinah was shellshocked, unable to speak, the only thing before her eyes the sight of Oliver leaping in front of her and then collapsing before her. He couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t move, she could only see that image.

But then Mia had screamed her name again, desperate, trying to get her attention—to get her to help them. She could hear the tears in her voice, how frightened she was, and she came back to her. To them. To her children—because they were her children, people she’d helped to raise, to shape into the strong young people they’d become.

She had walked over and stood next to them, cracking her knuckles, planting her feet, waiting for the moment Zoom appeared so she could scream at him. She had to protect them. She knew she would deal with the rest afterwards.

Zoom, at an almost leisurely place, got through their barricade, and all hell broke lose. Dinah remembered the arrows flying at him and him easily dodging them, and then Dinah’s furious scream she had sent his way, the raw power of her Siren Song sending him flying backwards. Zoom—sent flying backwards. The triumph she had felt in that moment was short-lived, however, as he quickly recovered and once again advanced.

Dinah remembered the terror she had felt, as she knew she couldn’t just keep screaming. She was standing next to people who could die if she screamed too long or too loud, which meant she would have to try and beat Zoom through her fighting skills, which she knew would be a lost cause against him.

Dinah shuddered, shaking herself out of the memory, and downed a shot of vodka. “If I had focused more on simply using my screams to defeat him and not on the fact that they could have died, then maybe they would have lived. They would surely have had permanent hearing damage, but they would still be alive,” her eyes pricked with tears. “They would be. I know they would be.”

Oliver was silent beside her, listening, still sitting very close beside her. “What happened to them, Dinah?”

Dinah shook her head. “I can’t—”

“I think you have to,” he gently prodded her. “You’ve already said so much. Dinah. Let yourself face this.”

Dinah stared vacantly at him, and swallowed, before nodding resolutely. She took a deep breath and continued. “Zoom… I know he was only toying with us. At any moment he could have ended us all.”

She told Oliver about how Zoom had thrown her across the room the moment he realised she wasn’t going to scream again, and how she’d hit her head, the room instantly spinning. She had tried to rise to her feet, to run back at him with everything she had ever learnt, but instead was met with the sight of Zoom’s hands grabbing Mia and Connor. She could remember them screaming, still alive, and Roy running at them, desperate to help them. Zoom had turned to look at him, and let go of Mia, slashing Roy across the throat, killing him first, his blood spraying across Mia. Mia had screamed at Dinah to run at that terrible moment, to save herself, while she watched Roy collapse to the floor.

She should never have run from them, she told Oliver. She should have stood her ground and shouted, giving everything she had. But she didn’t. She listened. She ran. She ran as she listened to the sound of the rest of her family dying, the sound of their screams echoing through the warehouse, Zoom’s laughter as it drowned everything out—including Dinah’s own screams, her cries, as she desperately tried to get away.

The moment she had burst outside, the numbness had settled over her fully, but she didn’t stop running. She ran several blocks, before the realisation of what had just happened hit her, and she stopped and threw up, staring at her hands—bloody, with no idea whose blood it was.

She had then felt the electricity in the air as Zoom appeared behind her, her friends’ blood on his black gloves. She sank to the floor before him, tears on her face, and stared numbly at the ground, waiting for it to be over.

But instead, Zoom had spoken to her, cruelly, forcing her to swear to serve him. She had asked why, and he had said it was because she had a strong power—a power he could use.

Dinah sat at the bar, a slight weight feeling like it had lifted off her shoulders at having actually said this out loud to someone, and wiped at her eyes to remove the tears that had escaped.

“Why would Zoom do this to you?” Oliver said as they did another shot together, with Dinah welcoming the burn of the alcohol at this point.

She shrugged quickly. “I wondered that myself at first. I just don’t know. He’s obsessed with power. He wanted the best by his side, and he wanted to prove he was the strongest. It’s why he is so consumed with The Flash right now—he wants to show everyone that he is the fastest, the strongest, the one who will win.”

Oliver was silent for a moment. “I feel bad for you. I’m sorry, Dinah. I lost my family too—my father, my mother. Laurel. Thea is all I have left.”

“Mia was my Thea,” Dinah smiled softly. “They are similar in a lot of ways. She’s lovely.”

“She is,” Oliver agreed, then looked at her seriously. “I am glad that you told me this, Dinah. To have buried that within you… it’s something I would do. But you know you need to face this fear of Zoom. This is what it comes down to.”

“I can’t go back to face him, Ollie,” Dinah said. “There’s no way. He’ll kill me.”

“Not if you’re on the right side this time,” Oliver murmured, then sat up a little straighter. “You worked for Zoom. That means you theoretically know stuff about him that The Flash wouldn’t, right?”

Dinah leant against her arm, staring at him quizzically. “Theoretically, sure.”

Oliver nodded. “Tomorrow morning I’m going to call The Flash and tell him to stay out of Star City while I…deal with you,” he said. “I’ll tell him what you’re trying to do, and I’ll let him know that you know things about Zoom that may be useful if I can redeem you.”

“Redeem me,” Dinah scoffed.

“He’ll listen to me,” Oliver said. “Promise.”

“Whatever you say,” Dinah murmured in response, staring down at her drink, the memory of what had happened still vivid in her mind.

“Dinah,” Oliver said, and she looked at him again. “It’s not your fault.”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “Save it. I know it was my fault. I decided to run.”

“And what could you have done if you stayed? Zoom clearly wanted only you because you were a meta,” Oliver told her. “He killed your team so that you would have nothing _but_ him. There was nothing that could have changed that.”

“You weren’t there.”

“No, but I’ve had to tell myself this about Laurel so many times now,” Oliver said, his voice burning. “It feels like it was my fault Laurel died—I should have been there to protect her, I should have gotten her to the hospital faster, any number of things. But I didn’t. And she died. And it feels like my fault, but there’s nothing I could have done.”

They stared at each other pityingly. “I’m sorry,” they said at the same time.

Dinah shook her head. “I’m never going to not think that it was my fault,” she said, tapping her nails on the counter. “Even when I fell, even when feeling nothing but hate, I still felt it was my fault.”

“I’m going to think the same,” Oliver said. “But to honour them, we have to move on. We can’t think about the past like this, and forget that we are allowed to heal.”

“If you say so,” Dinah said doubtfully.

“Don’t you think they would want us to heal? Imagine how terrible it would be for them, looking down at us from wherever they are, at us just hating ourselves for things we didn’t do.”

“What a philosophical question, Oliver,” Dinah half-smiled, thinking back to her promise to Laurel. She’d never known her, but she had known then that she wanted to prove herself in the eyes of the people she’d lost, too. Maybe Oliver was right. “How am I supposed to find myself now that I’ve told you this, though?”

“You’ll come back,” Oliver assured her. “The more you try, the more you deal with your pain, the more you don’t just shut it all out and revert—the more you’ll grow.” 

The night wore on and they talked, her vision and words steadily blurring while her mood improved, and while she knew she would regret drinking this much tomorrow, she was glad Oliver had made her do this. She’d finally told someone, and if this was the first step to facing her fears about Zoom, something that would allow her to become the Black Canary for Laurel, she was so relieved.

They told each other about the people they knew, about random parts of their lives that they realised were different on each other’s Earths, until Oliver asked her about the Oliver she had known, about how close they had been.

“I loved him,” she sighed. “With all my heart. Did you love your Laurel?”

He turned from his drink and looked at her intensely, his gaze searching hers. “Yes. I did.”

Hearing what he didn’t say, she asked, “Then what changed?”

He shook his head. “Nothing changed. I always loved her, we just…grew apart.”

Dinah scoffed into her glass. “I find that hard to believe,” she said, as Oliver threw his glass back. “Was it someone else?” She wondered.

“Kind of,” Oliver said. “I did meet a few people. Sara. Felicity. But Laurel… she was always the one behind it all. She started this,” he gestured to himself, and she guessed he meant the island. “She’ll be a part of me forever because of it. If it weren’t for her…” _I would have lost myself on the island,_ she heard her Ollie say in her mind. _You kept me going._

Gently, Dinah placed a hand over his. “It’s okay, Oliver. I don’t mean to pry.”

“We’re drunk, it’s kind of expected,” he slurred, staring at her closely again. “Did anyone ever tell you how pretty you are?”

“Ok, Ollie,” Dinah rolled her eyes. “I’m cutting you off. You’ve had too much.”

“And you haven’t? We’re fine.”

“Remember those words tomorrow morning, Queen,” Dinah said, glancing blearily at the clock above the bar, which read nearly 2 in the morning. “Maybe it’s time we left. It’s getting late.”

“Ok,” Oliver agreed. “Ok.” He got up carefully, as did Dinah, and she felt the effects of the alcohol hit her even harder once she was standing up.

“Oh, god,” Dinah said, walking forward as she watched the room spin dangerously.

Oliver had come up behind her, putting his jacket on, while she stared, fascinated at the colours of the lights. He swung his arm around her in one fluid movement, gesturing wildly in the direction of the door. “Lead the way, pretty bird.”

Dinah froze, staring up at him, his arm feeling heavy around her shoulders. “What? What did you just call me?”

Oliver frowned down at her. “Huh?”

“Never mind, you’re drunk,” Dinah muttered instead. Try as she might though, the words played over and over in her head. _Pretty bird._ Memories of Ollie came flooding back to her, and she swallowed.

They left the bar on stumbling feet, with Oliver waving over a taxi once they made it outside. It was difficult to get in, and once seated, Dinah hastily let go of the man beside her.

“Thea is out of town looking for you,” Oliver mumbled.

“I know,” Dinah replied, hushed.

“I have the apartment all to myself,” he rolled his head towards her. “You can come and stay there if you want?”

“Why?”

“Because I can’t just leave you out on the street, Dinah,” Oliver rolled his eyes. “You can sleep in Thea’s room.” He paused, and then reconsidered. “Actually…maybe on the couch. Just in case. I don’t know how Thea would react to you sleeping in her room.”

“Thanks,” Dinah said tiredly. It did sound better than sleeping at Laurel’s. It was a nice apartment, but it was so blatantly _Laurel’s_ in a way that just made her uncomfortable.

As they finally got home, Dinah stumbled over to the leather couches and fell onto them with a grateful moan, and listened for a moment as Oliver made it up the stairs. She didn’t know what he would expect her to do in this state if he needed her, and smiled to herself at the thought, letting herself succumb to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I know, it's been two months. I'm so sorry. I suddenly had a burst of inspiration, however, when I saw the new Arrow promo - did you guys see it?! Black Siren?! With Team Arrow?! I can't believe I basically predicted this, hahahaha. It will be so weird for me to see her with the team because of this fic- I really hope they give her a redemption arc! Praying for some goodness to come out of this, especially because I truly believed it was our Earth-1 Laurel :-(
> 
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and that it was a nice return for the long two months of waiting. I will be back soon!


	9. Only If For A Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song nobody knows  
> because anyone who has heard it  
> is dead, and the others can't remember.

Dinah had never been in so much pain. Whoever was torturing her was stabbing her head with multiple knives over and over until it felt like her head was going to explode. Her entire world was on fire and she couldn’t see—why was it so bright?

Squinting, Dinah forced herself to focus, pressing against the surface she was lying on to sit up, when she realised that she wasn’t actually being tortured.

Groaning, she placed her hands to her head, massaging her temples, trying to relieve some of the pain. She had known she was going to regret the amount of alcohol she consumed last night, but she had forgotten just how terrible hangovers could be. She stared angrily at the wall of windows, blaming them for waking her up. They hadn’t closed the curtains when they’d gotten home and now the sun was just _too_ bright in the sky.

She clambered to her feet, standing still for a second while she assessed if she could move without falling over or being sick. By some small miracle, she didn’t feel nauseous, but she had to do something about her headache before that changed.

Making her way over to the kitchen, she busied herself with searching through every cupboard, looking for any pain relief. _Damn,_ she thought, coming up empty-handed. Pursing her lips, she looked around the apartment floor, trying to think of where the next logical place would be to store such items.

Walking over to the bathroom she’d used the day before, she looked through the cupboards in there, and nearly teared up when she found a bottle of ibuprofen. _Thank god,_ she thought, taking two pills and shutting the door so she could take a cold shower. She felt disgusting. Never again, she shuddered, letting the water wash away her regret. She wondered briefly if Oliver was okay, the thought sending a hot flash coursing through her body. _Pretty bird._ He’d called her pretty bird, the nickname which her Ollie had used almost too liberally. It was something she had rolled her eyes at fondly whenever he’d said it, pretending she hated the name, but once he’d died and she thought she’d never hear it again, it was one of the things that hurt her heart the most.

She tried to remember all that had happened at the bar. She couldn’t remember everything they’d said to each other—and she had no idea how they’d gotten home—but she did feel a sense of peace that she hadn’t felt in a while. She remembered telling Oliver about what Zoom had done to her, which normally would have been something she couldn’t even think about, yet all she could now feel was relief that someone else knew. He’d promised her he was going to help her, and if he could help her to face this fear she had of the speedster, she would be eternally grateful.

Sighing, she switched off the water, pulling on a fluffy bathrobe and heading out to make breakfast, when she finally saw Oliver. He was leaning against one of the counters in the kitchen, covering his face with his hands, and she smirked, knowing exactly how he felt.

“Remember when you said _‘we’re fine’_ last night?” Dinah said patronisingly, walking over to stand opposite him, a smug grin on her face.

“Very funny,” Oliver muttered, standing up and running a hand over his face. “I feel terrible.”

“Yep,” Dinah agreed. “It was your idea, though, so I very cheerfully blame you.”

Oliver rolled his eyes and walked over to the fridge. “I was going to make breakfast, but now I think I’ll just let you make your own.”

Sitting at the table a while later, munching down on a delicious hangover breakfast of bacon, eggs and toast, Dinah slowly realised that Oliver was wearing a suit. Frowning, she swallowed and asked, “Where are you going?”

“To the office,” Oliver replied distractedly, staring at his phone. “I have work to do which apparently requires my immediate attention.” He looked up at her, a serious look on his face. “You have to stay in the apartment, okay?”

Dinah stopped chewing at that and put her cutlery down, glaring at him. “Why?”

“Because Laurel has a father who is still in the city, and last night I definitely should have paid more attention to that,” he sighed, staring at her, a thoughtful look on his face. “I don’t know what we are going to do about you looking like her, but if you just show up like nothing happened…”

“I get it,” Dinah leaned heavily against one arm, drumming her fingers of her other hand against the table. “Laurel is dead and I look like her.”

“We may be able to spin it so that Laurel faked her death or something, but at the same time you’re not her so it doesn’t really make sense to do that. I’ll think about it,” he said, getting up and smoothing his tie. “In the meantime, don’t leave.”

Dinah leaned back against her chair. “What am I supposed to do here by myself for the whole day?” She asked, mostly to herself, only complaining a little bit.

“Iris is still in town with Caitlin. They’re staying with Felicity, I’ll call her and let her know you’re here and they’ll come over so you can talk,” he said, making Dinah feel cold as ice. “I’ll be back later.”

* * *

The quick knock on the door almost made Dinah jump. After Oliver had left, she had turned on the downstairs TV to distract herself from the idea of facing Iris again, not knowing if he would actually tell them to come over or not. His blunt statement before he’d left made her feel very out of the loop and she didn’t like it.

But who else could it be? Making her way over to the door, she took a deep breath and steeled herself, unsure of the reaction she would get. She opened the door slowly, and was suddenly face to face with Iris, Caitlin and Felicity.

“Hi, Dinah,” Felicity greeted, at the same time as her eyes zeroed in on what she was wearing and frowned.

“Why are you wearing a bathrobe?” Caitlin asked at the same time, also staring. “Did we get here too early?”

Dinah looked down at herself, and felt her face tinge slightly pink. “I… uh…”

“Never mind,” Caitlin waved her hand easily to dispel the awkwardness. “It’s none of my business, clearly.”

Felicity was still looking at her curiously, but seemed to let it go and walked past Dinah into the apartment with the other two. Iris was quiet, Dinah noticed, too aware of it, and shut the door delicately behind them. She didn’t know what to say.

“So, you’re back,” Felicity began, as the four of them looked awkwardly at each other. “And Iris is—”

“Alive,” Iris finished for her.

Dinah looked down, trying to find the right words, but feeling Iris’s gaze on her just couldn’t keep it in. “ _Iris,_ I’m so sorry. I thought I was changing, and then I let you die, but you’re not really dead so The Flash isn’t actually coming after me and I can’t tell you how happy I am that that is the case because that would mean going back to Central City and—” she took a deep breath, “you’re _alive_ and it was all just a test which I know I failed but you’re _alive_ so I feel so much better and… I’m sorry.”

Iris was looking at her amusedly, not with hatred or indifference or any other terrible emotion that she would be entitled to, but Dinah stood there anxiously anyway, waiting for her response.

“Dinah, you’re the one with the superpowers. You don’t have to be so nervous,” she said, a small smile on her face.

Dinah relaxed slightly, and closed her eyes, waiting for the onslaught. “I’m sorry, Iris. I truly am.”

“I believe you,” Iris replied easily, and Dinah opened her eyes immediately to look at her. Her dark brown eyes were staring at her without a hint of insincerity, and to emphasise her point, she moved over and squeezed Dinah’s shoulder. “I was the one who came up with the test, so I forgive you. You were doing amazingly—until you weren’t.”

Dinah half-smiled. “Yeah, well the idea of being taken by Zoom was…”

“Too much,” Iris nodded. “I know. We figured it out afterwards. I’m sorry we did that to you. We don’t know you well enough to assume you would just drop everything to help us—to help me.”

“I should have,” Dinah replied, her voice burning. “I promised Laurel that I would honour her, and yet at the first sign of trouble that promise flew out the window.”

“I know it’s none of my business,” Felicity spoke, “but what did Zoom do to you? Do you just not want to be under the control of a supervillain again or is it something more?”

Dinah pursed her lips, looking between the three women’s faces. She knew she had told Oliver her life story, but she didn’t feel entirely comfortable with telling more and more people. It was private; it was her darkest secret. “Of course I don’t want that,” Dinah finally said. “But the rest is…kind of personal.”

“It’s okay,” Iris said, her hand slipping from Dinah’s shoulder down to her hand for a moment before letting go. “You don’t have to tell us.”

Dinah looked at her gratefully. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she couldn’t trust Iris, or the others, but it had required copious amounts of alcohol to even think about telling Oliver. She couldn’t even think about it normally.

“We know that you told Oliver, though,” Felicity murmured, walking further into the apartment, the others following behind. “He told me this morning that he was going to tell The Flash to, basically, back off.”

“And then I got a very interesting phone call from The Flash,” Iris smirked. “Wondering why I’d changed my mind on having him come after you.”

“He said he was going to do that before he left this morning,” Dinah confirmed. “I wasn’t sure how serious he was, though.” At their confused looks, she elaborated. “He’s going to help me get over my fear of Zoom, so that I can keep my promise to Laurel.”

Felicity and Caitlin both looked at each other in surprise, while Iris smiled. “See? If Oliver has come over to your side— _Oliver_ —then I knew I was right in the first place.”

“It would seem that way,” Caitlin agreed. “What is he going to do? Run tests? You know, while I’m here I could help with that…”

“No, Cait,” Iris shook her head at her friend. “Leave the girl alone.”

“What are you supposed to be doing while he’s out?” Felicity asked. “By yourself in this apartment…”

“Nothing,” Dinah shrugged. “He just said I can’t leave.”

“Can’t leave?” Felicity frowned.

“It's because I look like Laurel,” Dinah sighed. “We went out last night and I could tell he regretted that this morning. He isn’t sure what to do about the fact I look like her, because Laurel is supposed to be dead.”

“And if you were just wandering around the city someone is definitely bound to notice,” Felicity nodded, understanding. “Yeah. Laurel was a very important woman, and her father is the police captain. That means Oliver is actually right to be overdramatic about this, for once.”

“Still, it doesn’t seem right that you’re basically being locked in this apartment. Even if it is a very nice apartment,” Iris said, looking around. “And you’re in a bathrobe.”

“Iris,” Caitlin’s eyes widened, shaking her head quickly. “What Oliver and Dinah get up to is their own business.”

 _What?_ “Um, Oliver and I aren’t…we aren’t sleeping together,” Dinah felt her face flush pink as she said this, suddenly understanding Caitlin’s comment from earlier. “I’m in a bathrobe because I don’t actually have any clothes and I don’t want to wear the ones I wore out last night because they smell _terrible._ ”

“Oh,” Caitlin blinked. “Wow. Sorry.”

“You need clothes,” Iris said after the awkward moment had passed. “We could go over to Laurel’s apartment and find some things for you to wear, if you want?”

Dinah grimaced. “I don’t really—it’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but I don’t really feel comfortable in there.”

“I don’t either,” Felicity agreed. “I think it has to do with the fact that we all just kind of left her apartment to sit there. It still looks lived in.”

“Exactly,” Dinah nodded.

“We didn’t really know Laurel,” Iris said, looking over at Caitlin. “We could go over there and just grab a bunch of stuff.”

“That would honestly be great, Iris,” Felicity said gratefully. “While you guys do that, I can stage a jailbreak for Dinah.”

“A jailbreak?” Dinah repeated dumbly.

Felicity looked at her and grinned. “Oliver wants you to stay hidden. I feel like you could spend your time much more productively if you were down in the Arrow Cave, don’t you?”

“Actually, yeah,” Dinah said thoughtfully. “It’s been a long time since I’ve trained.”

“Perfect,” Felicity clapped, then turned to Iris and Caitlin. “You guys can meet us there once you’re done, okay?”

A little harmless rebellion, Dinah thought, as Iris and Caitlin agreed. She smirked, knowing that Oliver was not going to be happy when he came home to find her missing.

* * *

The Arrow Cave lights blinked on as the elevator opened and Dinah and Felicity stepped out. Dinah stared around with renewed interest, now that she was allowed to be in there, and not simply sneaking around with Nyssa.

Not that she hadn’t just snuck into the elevator while Felicity created a diversion that involved distracting Oliver. It was both hilarious to watch as Felicity rambled at Oliver and his assistant but also terrifying as Dinah had to both look natural and hide her face from everyone in the office—which was very busy in the middle of the day.

“Is Oliver going to come down here?” Dinah asked, as Felicity walked straight over to the computers, with Dinah hanging back, her heart still beating fast from the intense situation they'd been in.

“Not while he’s working,” Felicity confirmed, unbuttoning her coat and sinking into the computer chair with a heavy sigh. “He’ll only come down here during the day if we find something that he has to go out as the Green Arrow for, basically.”

“Huh,” Dinah murmured, her gaze drifting over to the mannequins on the far wall that held the Spartan, Green Arrow, Speedy and Black Canary costumes. She stared at the Black Canary costume for a while, and when Felicity cleared her throat, looking at her meaningfully, she knew she’d noticed.

Directing her attention back to the computer screens, she pressed a few buttons that lit up the rest of the Cave. Dinah could now see the training area at the other end of the lair, she noticed immediately, and stepped up behind Felicity to stare attentively at it.

“You can use anything down here,” Felicity murmured. “I’ll just be sitting here, doing my thing.”

Dinah nodded, looking at the various equipment she was hungry to use. “Thank you, Felicity.”

“‘Course,” Felicity replied, tapping away at her keyboard. “It’s better than having you cooped up in Oliver’s apartment.” She paused, and then looked up at the half-distracted brunette. “And I know he said not to tell Nyssa, Thea and John that you’re back but…Dinah, I’m not the _most_ comfortable knowing that you’re here while they’re still out looking for you. You should see the texts I get from Thea. Even John is getting a little desperate.”

Dinah looked down at her in concern. “I understand. But Oliver—”

“Wanted you to himself,” Felicity smiled, looking at her curiously. “Interesting, isn’t it? I’m so curious to know what happened between you two, because he seriously _hated_ you yesterday.”

“Uh,” Dinah blinked, not sure how to explain their fight in the forest and what had happened as a result. It was something that only the two of them shared. “We just…came to an understanding, I suppose.”

“Hmm,” Felicity murmured, turning back to her computer. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but as someone who knows Oliver, and knew Laurel, it’s just…” she shrugged, trying to find the right word, and repeating herself. “Interesting. That’s all.”

“Interesting how?” Dinah asked warily.

“Well, Oliver used to be with Laurel,” Felicity replied easily. “I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now. I find it _interesting_ that he was so mad when he found out about you, but then whatever happened between you happened, and now he’s completely on your side. He told _The Flash_ to stay away so he could help you.”

“…What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that maybe his feelings for Laurel weren’t as gone as we all thought,” she finished, leaning forward and resting her chin on her steepled fingers.

“You think he’s helping me because of how he felt for Laurel?” Dinah frowned. “But…she’s dead," she said, cringing at her word choice.

“I know that,” Felicity said quickly, and then cleared her throat. “But even before that they hadn’t been together for a long time. I thought he’d completely moved on from her, but then you come along, and he went through a _very_ dramatic mood swing,” she tilted her head to the side, looking up at Dinah again. “We all reacted to you strongly, Dinah, but Oliver’s reaction was…next level.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Dinah murmured. “The more he drank last night, the friendlier he got with me.” _Pretty bird,_ she thought again, and then shook her head to dispel it.

“You’re sure nothing actually happened last night?” Felicity raised an eyebrow questioningly.

“Nothing,” Dinah confirmed. “It wasn’t that kind of night, believe me.”

“Okay,” Felicity nodded, and then shifted her attention back to the computer. “Just think about what I said. You can go and borrow some of Laurel’s workout clothes—they’re all over in the training area.”

Dinah nodded, eager to change out of the grey leopard sweater and grey jeans she’d forced herself to change back into. She'd done it so she hadn’t had to walk through Oliver's campaign office and enter the Cave in a bathrobe, which would have been highly embarrassing, but she still felt gross in them.

She headed over to the designated workout area, looking through the cupboards curiously. It wasn’t difficult to find the one with clothes that would fit her, and she quickly grabbed and changed into them. It had been _so long_ since she’d done something like this. The Queen Mansion on her Earth was where she’d trained most of the time, and after she’d sworn her loyalty to Zoom she’d never gone back there. Plus, Zoom had liked her mostly for her sonic scream, not for her martial arts abilities, she thought, as she rolled her head and shoulders, stretching.

She spent the next couple of hours working her body to its limit, forcing herself through the pain, getting back into training herself. It made her feel good to be using her body for something she used to enjoy so much. Felicity helpfully had decided to be her spotter once she had finished on the computers, and the two of them had idly talked in between Dinah’s sets.

“Do you think you could do the salmon ladder?” Felicity asked after Dinah’s final set of sit-ups, as she lay on the white mat, catching her breath.

Dinah frowned, and looked up to what Felicity was pointing at. She shrugged. “Yeah, probably. Do I just use the pole?”

“Yeah,” Felicity said, a small smile on her face. This was still her favourite thing to watch people do. Oliver and Sara had made it look so—so hot, really.

Dinah pushed up from the floor, her body gleaming with sweat, and walked over to the ladder determinedly. Steeling herself, she jumped up, grabbing onto the pole, feeling her arms and abs clenching beautifully as she pulled herself up the ladder. _Damn,_ Dinah thought, loving the feel of the burn running through her muscles, at the same time as Felicity whispered, “Wow.”

Amused, Dinah finished the workout in a good mood, dropping to the floor and swinging her arms over her shoulders to ease the tension. “Wow?” She asked, a good-natured smile on her face.

“Sorry, I just—that’s my favourite,” Felicity blushed slightly. “I like watching people do that.”

“Noted,” Dinah chuckled, walking over and picking up a towel. She had peeled off her shirt a while ago, but she still felt gross, even in as good a mood as she was. As she wiped away at herself over her sports bra, the elevator doors opened, and Iris and Caitlin walked in loaded with giant bags.

“Took you guys long enough,” Felicity called, heading over to them with Dinah. They lugged the bags up onto the computer station and set them down, looking exhausted.

“Laurel had a lot of stuff,” Iris said simply. “And we are probably heading home tonight, which would mean you would have to go there yourself.”

“True,” Felicity said. “Thank you.”

“It was a little weird going through everything that Laurel owned,” Caitlin said, pushing her hair out of her face and huffing. “But we have quite the selection here for you, Dinah.”

Dinah could tell. The bags they had brought in with them were huge and overflowing. Dinah peered down at them curiously, before saying her thanks, too. “Seriously. This is such a relief. No more bathrobes.”

“Well, unless Oliver…” Caitlin said, and Iris elbowed her in the stomach.

Felicity’s phone beeped at that moment, and she got it out, sighing when she saw the message. “Oliver’s just come home to find you aren’t there,” she said to Dinah, tapping out a reply. “But don’t worry. If he gets mad, I’ll just bring up the _Thea and John don’t know you’re here_ argument.”

Dinah chuckled quietly, folding her arms across her chest. As they waited for Oliver to arrive in a mood, Iris and Caitlin said their goodbyes. It was a long train ride to Central City, but Dinah could tell that they wanted to get out of there sooner rather than later more to avoid seeing Oliver. She was very surprised when Iris pulled her in for a hug just as she was leaving, too.

“I’ll get everyone in Central City on your side, Dinah,” Iris whispered against her.

Dinah didn’t know what to say, so she just patted Iris’s back gently. Even Caitlin was looking at her in a softer way than she had when she had first met her, which made her feel warm inside, happy that people's opinions of her seemed to be changing.

Dinah went and showered while waiting for Oliver to arrive, truly hoping he wouldn’t be mad at her. She wanted him to like her, and having him be mad would only put them back at square one.

Thankfully, it turned out that she didn’t have to worry. Oliver was a little irritated, sure, at having to travel across the city before coming right back to where he’d just been, but he wasn’t mad at her or Felicity for sneaking Dinah out of the apartment. Felicity seemed to deflate at this, the rebuttal she'd been brewing over having already formed fully in her mind.

“It’s a good place for you,” Oliver simply stated, staring at Dinah thoughtfully. His suit jacket was off, his sleeves were rolled up, and Dinah found herself staring back. _Damn suits,_ she thought. "I should have told you you could come here."

“Oliver, even if you aren’t going to argue with this, you do still need to tell the others she’s here,” Felicity spoke up defiantly, and Oliver looked over at her briefly.

“I know,” he agreed. “I’ll tell them tonight.”

“Really?” Dinah raised her eyebrows, sharing a surprised look with Felicity.

“I was going to tell them anyway,” Oliver rolled his eyes, walking past them and over to the training area. “I just wanted to spend some time with Dinah first.”

Dinah saw Felicity smirk out of the corner of her eye, and turned to look at her questioningly.

“I should probably head out, then,” Felicity said smoothly, walking over to her coat where it lay draped across the computer chair. “I have a program running to look for any sign of—well, _anything_ —that will alert us if need be. Laters,” she said with a wave, heading out in a slight hurry. Dinah frowned, sensing the slight awkwardness between her and Oliver.

Looking over at him, she looked away again immediately when she saw him taking his shirt off, throwing it haphazardly on the floor while also looking for something to change into in the cupboard he was standing in front of. She didn't miss, however, the flash of scars and tattoos across his bare back that reminded her so of her Oliver.

“Um,” Dinah cleared her throat, staring in the opposite direction to try and give him some privacy while he changed. “What was that about?”

“Hmm?” Oliver replied absentmindedly.

“With Felicity,” she clarified.

“Oh,” Oliver said, then paused, thinking about what to say. “We used to be together.”

“Yeah, I knew that,” Dinah said. “But that seemed…odd.”

“Things are still a little weird between us,” Oliver said in understanding, then sighed. “We used to be engaged.”

“Wow,” Dinah blinked, surprised. She hadn’t even heard of a Felicity Smoak on her Earth, and here she'd been engaged to Oliver. “What happened?”

“We just weren’t good for each other,” Oliver murmured, shutting the cupboard door in front of him and walking over to Dinah. Dinah knew he was telling her a very short version of what had happened, but she didn’t mind. His tone was sincere; he clearly had accepted the fact that they shouldn’t be together.

Dinah turned to him, and saw he was now in much more casual clothes. She nodded, crossing her arms. “Okay,” she murmured slowly, agreeing to drop it. “What do you want to do now, then?”

“I was going to train,” Oliver replied, looking over her shoulder at the computers, a small frown coming over his expression. “It’s been very quiet on the streets for a while, and I don’t like not being here, just in case.”

“Damien Darhk,” Dinah said, _darkly,_ and Oliver nodded.

“I’ll probably go patrol tonight just to see if _anything_ is out of place,” he said thoughtfully. “Which will mean you’ll have to stay here. For real, this time.”

“Seriously?” Dinah raised an eyebrow, her tone incredulous. “I don’t like being in a cage.”

“I know,” Oliver said regretfully. “But…you could be…”

“Seen?” Dinah finished for him. “I _know_ I could be seen. I've gone over this multiple times today. However, when you wear a _mask_ …”

“It’s more than that, Dinah,” Oliver said quietly, looking over at the Black Canary mannequin, a sad look darkening his expression. “People know Laurel was the Black Canary.”

“I’m not saying go out as the Black Canary,” Dinah said, slightly shocked. “I’m not at _all_ ready for that.”

“No?” Oliver looked over at her now.

She shook her head. “However, I will need to go out there if I am to be her eventually…if I’m to be the Black Canary. I’ll need practice to remember how to be a vigilante.”

“I know,” Oliver said very softly, his eyes still cloudy, before clearing. He had looked so sad in that moment, it made Dinah step closer to him unconsciously.

Looking at him in concern, she asked the first thing that came into her head. “Do you want to spar with me?”

He frowned, looking at her in confusion. “Spar?”

“Yeah,” she nodded easily. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good sparring partner. You want to train, I’ve just spent the last few hours doing the same, so why not try something different?”

Oliver stared at her, a small look of surprise on his face. “Sparring. Sure, okay.”

As they stepped over to the mats, Dinah raised her hands, one clenched, one flat, and stared at him.

“Laurel and I rarely sparred,” Oliver murmured, standing opposite her on the mat. “But I also know from our fight in the woods that you fight differently to her.”

“I do?”

“You would have taken me down if you had let yourself,” Oliver replied, raising his own hands, staring at her intently. “It was very interesting to me, even in my panic.”

Dinah rolled her eyes. “Okay, Mr. Arrogant. I'm sure Laurel could have done the same, too.”

Oliver chuckled. “I'm sure she could have. We just never actually came to that. Anyway, let’s do this.”

It was almost fun, Dinah decided, as they came at each other, testing one another. They’d already seen a lot of what they could do in their fight, so it was nice to take that element out of it. Dinah could simply relax into the movements, finding that Oliver actually fought very similarly to her Oliver. Similar experiences, she guessed, as she blocked a hit with her forearm and aimed a kick at his stomach. Oliver hadn’t seen it coming, and she was able to upset his footing enough that with a swift sweep of her legs and pushing her weight against his he landed heavily on the mat.

She had misjudged how much force she needed to do this, however, and fell after him, nearly landing on top of him. He caught her before they collided, his eyes wide, but they still ended up very close to each other, breathing heavily. Dinah swallowed, her mouth feeling suddenly dry. He was looking up at her with a look she recognised, and didn’t know what to do with. _Not now._

She pushed off from him, getting to her feet fluidly and wiping at her hands, very pointedly not looking at him sprawled out on the floor.

Oliver cleared his throat, and got up after her. “See? I knew you could beat me,” he said, trying to break the tension they felt, the tension Dinah had hoped would disappear after the previous day.

“Yeah, well,” Dinah looked over at him quickly, searchingly, pursing her lips. “…I wanted a very different thing in the forest.”

“I know," Oliver murmured in reply.

“It’s been a while since I had to use my abilities in such a way,” Dinah continued, half-ignoring him. “I relied much more on my voice under Zoom.”

“Your voice?” Oliver asked, sounding confused, then understanding dawned on him. “Your scream?”

Dinah nodded. “It sounds weird when you put it like that, but yes. I call it the Siren Song.”

“Laurel always called it the Canary Cry,” Oliver murmured, looking at her neck for a moment. Dinah found that curious, but he looked away after a moment. “But she wasn’t a meta. She wore a collar that enabled her to do that.”

“The  _Canary Cry,_ ” Dinah repeated, looking over at the Black Canary mannequin, pondering this. “Oliver," she said simply. "I want to be the Black Canary.”

“I know,” he replied, following her gaze, before looking back at her curiously. "We've been over this multiple times, now."

Dinah rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “ _So,_  I know that I’m going to need to change some things about myself to do that. Changing _Siren Song_ to _Canary Cry_ seems like one of the easier choices I’ll have to make,” she said, a small smile spreading over her face. “Do you think Laurel would like that?”

“Yes,” Oliver agreed, smiling with her. “Just remember, you don’t need to change every single thing about yourself. You _can_ still be you.”

“As you say,” Dinah replied.

"I mean it," Oliver insisted. "Laurel's sis-" he began, as a loud beep resounded through the Cave.

Frowning, Dinah watched Oliver hurry over to the computers, and quickly followed after him. He was staring at an alert from Felicity’s system, which said there was something going on at the docks. The alert showed the coordinates, and Dinah stared at it as some white dots showed up on the screen.

“Ghosts,” Oliver muttered, pulling out his phone and texting Felicity as fast as he could. “John and Thea will have to wait tonight. I need to go and deal with this,” he said, jumping down from the computers and hurrying over to the Green Arrow suit.

“I’ll go with you,” Dinah said, and when he said nothing, placed a hand on his shoulder. “ _Ollie._ You can’t go out there by yourself.”

“I _used_ to do just that all the time,” Oliver said, slightly bitter-sounding, but turned in her grip so that they were facing one another. Dinah blinked up at him, staring into his blue eyes, the eyes that were both so familiar but so foreign to her. He was looking at her intently, like he was trying to decide something, and then nodded abruptly. He took her hand and pulled her gently down the line of suits to the Black Canary mannequin, and Dinah widened her eyes, wondering what he was doing.

“Put it on,” Oliver murmured to her gently, almost pushing her towards it, as Dinah shook her head.

“Ollie, I— it’s too soon, you only just said you would help me work through my fear of Zoom—” Dinah said, backing away, but Oliver only moved closer to her.

“Listen to me. I don’t know if Darhk will be there tonight, and I don’t know how he will be if he is, but you’re right. I can’t go out there by myself. The others are too far away to help me deal with this—and this needs to be dealt with tonight,” he told her, gently but determinedly. “I need you with me. You just beat me in a fight, easily might I add, so I know you’ll be able to handle yourself." He placed his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Darhk is not Zoom. He may be powerful—supernaturally powerful—but he isn't Zoom. You can do this."

Dinah was still shaking her head. “Just let me wear something else, anything but this. I want to help you. But—”

“But what?” Oliver asked. “If you keep putting this off," he lifted a hand and pointed at the suit, "you’ll never want to wear it. And the more you put it off, the more I’ll put it off. This is the perfect time to just get it over with.”

Dinah swallowed nervously, still unsure. It was a big thing to do.

Sensing her further hesitation, Oliver continued. “ _Dinah._ There’s something that Laurel made me promise her before she died, something which I’ve been keeping to myself ever since, but…it's something that I think you, of all people, should know.”

“What?” Dinah whispered, her eyebrows drawing together, looking at him intently.

“She made me promise that I wouldn’t let her be the last Black Canary,” he whispered back, both of them looking up at the black costume once more. “And trust me, I know I should have told you this earlier, but it was something she told only me. I’ve been keeping it to myself for so long. It was something she didn't tell anybody else. Just me.”

Dinah listened to this, feeling her promise to Laurel become something even more important in her mind. _Laurel wanted her legacy to continue,_ she thought, the realisation dawning on her, making her realise she'd done the right thing in the graveyard. “It’s alright, Ollie,” she said, nodding slowly, accepting her fate. “I don’t think I’m ready for this, but you need help. Only for a night, though.”

“Only for a night,” Oliver agreed quietly, as Dinah reached up and pulled the gear of the Black Canary down, her promise to Laurel Lance ringing in her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling very in the zone at the moment, just churned this out! I also know exactly how this story is going to end now, which is exciting for me, as all it means I have to do is get to that end point. Anyway, I hope you guys liked this new update and I'll be back soon :-)
> 
> (If I don't get a new update out before Arrow comes back--hope you all died just as much as I inevitably did over Black Siren with Team Arrow, bye).


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